ALAGAPPA UNIVERSITY

[Accredited with ‘A+’ Grade by NAAC (CGPA:3.64) in the Third Cycle

and Graded as Category–I University by MHRD-UGC]
(A State University Established by the Government of Tamil Nadu)
KARAIKUDI – 630 003

B.A. [Public Administration]

IV - Semester
106 43

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
 Reviewer
Dr. M. Natarajan Assistant Professor,
Department of English and Foreign Language,
Alagappa University, Karaikudi

Authors:
J.S. Chandan, Retd Professor, Medgar Evers College, City University of New York
Units: (1.2, 1.5, 2, 3.0-3.2, 3.4-3.8, 5.2, 6.3-6.12, 7-9, 10.2-10.3, 10.5, 11, 13.3, 14.0-14.2, 14.4-14.11)
M.N. Mishra, Former Head and Dean, Faculty of Commerce, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Units: (1.3-1.4, 3.3, 4, 5.4, 6.0-6.2)
Kavita Singh, Professor, Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi
Units: (5.3, 10.4, 12, 14.3)
Vikas® Publishing House, Units: (1.0-1.1, 1.6-1.10, 5.0-5.1, 5.5-5.9, 10.0-10.1, 10.6-10.10, 13.0-13.2, 13.4-13.8)

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 SYLLABI-BOOK MAPPING TABLE
Organizational Behaviour

BLOCK I: AN INTRODUCTION TO ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Unit-1: Introduction to Organizational Behaviour - Nature- Basic Objectives Unit 1: Overview of Organizational
- Elements - Importance of Organizational Behaviour. Behaviour
(Pages 1-11)

Unit-2: Foundations of Individual Behaviour - Positive Individual Unit 2: Foundations of Individual

Behaviour - Negative Individual Behaviour - Factors Influencing Individual Behaviour
Behaviour - Personal Factors - Environmental Factors (Pages 12-22)

Unit-3: Personality - Definitions - Determinants of Personality - Influence Unit 3: Overview of Personality

of Personality on Behaviour - Influencing Behaviour - Personality (Pages 23-35)
Development

Unit-4: Perception - Definitions - Sensation and Perception - Process of Unit 4: Perception

Perception - Determinants of Perception. (Pages 36-49)

Unit-5: Attitude and Values - Definitions - Nature and Characteristics of Unit 5: Attitudes and Values
Attitude and Values - Measurement of Attitude - Functions of Attitude - (Pages 50-61)
Attitude Change - Values and Attitudes

BLOCK II: GROUPS AND WORK STRESS IN ORGANISATION

Unit-6: Groups in Organization - Meaning - Characteristics - Reasons for Unit 6: Groups in Organization
Formation of Groups - Types of Groups - Different Stages of Groups - (Pages 62-76)
Individual and Group Decisions.

Unit-7: Work Stress - Causes of Stress - Personal Factors - Organizational Unit 7: Work Stress
Factors - Stress- Performance Relationship - Psychological Problems - (Pages 77-98)
Behavioural Changes

BLOCK III: ORGANISTIONAL CHANGE AND DEVELPOMENT

Unit-8: Organizational Change - Meaning - Factors Influencing Change - Unit 8: Organizational Change
Internal Factors - External Factors (Pages 99-113)

Unit-9: Organizational Development - Objectives of Od - Evaluation and Unit 9: Organizational Development

Follow Up - Organizational Development - Merits and Demerits. (Pages 114-121)

BLOCK IV: ORGANISATION AND ITS ENVIRONMENT

Unit-10: Organizational Culture and Climate - Types - Determinants - Unit 10: Organizational Culture
Changing Organizational Culture - Organizational Climate - Determinants and Climate
of Organizational Culture (Pages 122-141)

Unit11: Organizational Conflicts - Definitions - Causes of Conflicts - Unit 11: Organizational Conflicts
Different Stages of Conflict - Conflict and Performance - Measures To (Pages 142-155)
Stimulate Conflicts - Conflict Outcomes.

Unit-12: Career Planning - Meaning and Characteristics - Need For Career Unit 12: Career Planning
Planning - Process of Career Planning - Evaluation of Career Planning (Pages 156-164)
Limitations.
BLOCK V: EMOTIONS AND POWER POLITICS IN ORGANISATION
Unit-13: Emotional Intelligence - Types of Emotions - Managing Emotions Unit 13: Emotional Intelligence
- Emotional Intelligence - Dimensions of Emotional Intelligence - (Pages 165-176)
Advantages and Limitations of Emotional Intelligence.

Unit-14: Power, Politics and Impression Management - Power, Authority Unit 14: Power, Politics and
and influence - Sources - Organizational Politics - Nature of Organizational Impression Management
Politics (Pages 177-198)
 CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION

BLOCK I: AN INTRODUCTION TO ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

UNIT 1 OVERVIEW OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 1-11

1.0 Introduction
1.1 Objectives
1.2 Characteristics of Human Behaviour
1.3 Meaning and Nature of Organizational Behaviour
1.4 Basic Objectives
1.5 Elements of Organizational Behaviour
1.5.1 Importance of Organizational Behaviour
1.6 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
1.7 Summary
1.8 Key Words
1.9 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
1.10 Further Readings

UNIT 2 FOUNDATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR 12-22

2.0 Introduction
2.1 Objectives
2.2 Factors Influencing Individual Behaviour: Positive and Negative Individual Behaviour
and Personal Factors
2.3 Environmental Factors
2.4 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
2.5 Summary
2.6 Key Words
2.7 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
2.8 Further Readings

UNIT 3 OVERVIEW OF PERSONALITY 23-35

3.0 Introduction
3.1 Objectives
3.2 Personality: Definitions, Determinants and Influence of Personality
3.3 Personality Development
3.3.1 Theories of Personality
3.4 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
3.5 Summary
3.6 Key Words
3.7 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
3.8 Further Readings
UNIT 4 PERCEPTION 36-49
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Objectives
4.2 Perception: Definition, Process and Sensation
4.3 Determinants of Perception
4.4 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
4.5 Summary
4.6 Key Words
4.7 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
4.8 Further Readings

UNIT 5 ATTITUDES AND VALUES 50-61

5.0 Introduction
5.1 Objectives
5.2 Meaning, Nature and Characteristics of Attitude
5.2.1 Attitude Measurement
5.3 Values and Attitude
5.4 Values: Meaning, Nature and Characteristics
5.5 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
5.6 Summary
5.7 Key Words
5.8 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
5.9 Further Readings

BLOCK II: GROUPS AND WORK STRESS IN ORGANISATION

UNIT 6 GROUPS IN ORGANIZATION 62-76

6.0 Introduction
6.1 Objectives
6.2 Meaning and Characteristics of Groups
6.3 Reasons for Formation of Groups
6.3.1 Stages of Group Formation
6.4 Types of Groups
6.5 Group Norms
6.6 Group Cohesiveness
6.7 Decision Making and the Group
6.7.1 Individual and Group Decision Making
6.8 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
6.9 Summary
6.10 Key Words
6.11 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
6.12 Further Readings
UNIT 7 WORK STRESS 77-98
7.0 Introduction
7.1 Objectives
7.2 Causes and Factors of Stress
7.2.1 Sources of Stress
7.3 Consequences of Job Stress
7.4 Stress-Performance Relationship
7.5 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
7.6 Summary
7.7 Key Words
7.8 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
7.9 Further Readings

BLOCK III: ORGANISTIONAL CHANGE AND DEVELPOMENT

UNIT 8 ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE 99-113

8.0 Introduction
8.1 Objectives
8.2 Meaning, Nature and Importance of Organizational Change
8.2.1 Importance of Organizational Change
8.2.2 Change Process
8.2.3 Factors Influencing Change
8.2.4 External and Internal Factors
8.3 Managing Change
8.4 Resistance to Change
8.5 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
8.6 Summary
8.7 Key Words
8.8 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
8.9 Further Readings

UNIT 9 ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 114-121

9.0 Introduction
9.1 Objectives
9.2 Organizational Development: Objectives, Evaluation and Follow-Up
9.2.1 Merits and Demerits of Organizational Development
9.3 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
9.4 Summary
9.5 Key Words
9.6 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
9.7 Further Readings
BLOCK IV: ORGANISATION AND ITS ENVIRONMENT

UNIT 10 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND CLIMATE 122-141

10.0 Introduction
10.1 Objectives
10.2 Types and Determinants of Organizational Culture
10.3 Changing Organizational Culture
10.4 Impact of Organizational Climate and Culture
10.5 Determinants of Organizational Climate
10.6 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
10.7 Summary
10.8 Key Words
10.9 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
10.10 Further Readings

UNIT 11 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS 142-155

11.0 Introduction
11.1 Objectives
11.2 Definitions
11.2.1 Causes of Conflict
11.3 Different Stages of Conflict
11.4 Conflict and Performance and Measures to Stimulate Conflicts
11.4.1 Conflict and Performance
11.4.2 Conflict Outcomes
11.5 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
11.6 Summary
11.7 Key Words
11.8 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
11.9 Further Readings

UNIT 12 CAREER PLANNING 156-164

12.0 Introduction
12.1 Objectives
12.2 Meaning, Need and Characteristics
12.3 Process of Career Planning
12.4 Evaluation of Career Planning: Advantages and Limitations
12.5 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
12.6 Summary
12.7 Key Words
12.8 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
12.9 Further Readings
BLOCK V: EMOTIONS AND POWER POLITICS IN ORGANISATION

UNIT 13 EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE 165-176

13.0 Introduction
13.1 Objectives
13.2 Emotions: Meaning and Types
13.2.1 Managing Emotions
13.3 Emotional Intelligence: Dimensions, Advantages and Limitations
13.4 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
13.5 Summary
13.6 Key Words
13.7 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
13.8 Further Readings

UNIT 14 POWER, POLITICS AND IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT 177-198

14.0 Introduction
14.1 Objectives
14.2 Power, Authority and Influence
14.3 Impression Management
14.4 Source of Power in Organizations
14.5 Nature of Organizational Politics
14.6 Ethics of Power and Politics
14.7 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
14.8 Summary
14.9 Key Words
14.10 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
14.11 Further Readings
Introduction

INTRODUCTION
Organizational Behaviour is related to the behaviour of individuals or groups of
NOTES
people working together in teams. The study becomes more challenging when
situational factors interact. The study of organizational behaviour relates to the
expected behaviour of an individual in the organization and application of managerial
skills and knowledge to people in the organization to investigate individual and
group behaviour.
Organizations have realized that their success depends not so much on the
effectiveness of their systems and processes, as on the effectiveness of their human
resources. The success or failure of organizations is determined to a great extent
by their employees. Employees exhibit many forms of behaviour, which have a
significant impact on the performance and growth of organizations.
Organizational behaviour provides insights into the basics of employee
behaviour in organizations. It discusses various aspects of individual behaviour,
such as personality, perception and motivation and also examines the behaviour of
people working in groups and teams. Various philosophers and thinkers have put
across their own unique theories of needs explaining the effect of motivation and
its importance for helping individuals achieve their goals which are in synchronization
with the goals of the organization. Organizational behaviour highlights the various
decision-making processes and leadership skills for the successful functioning of
groups. It is a term related to the study of individual and group dynamics in an
organizational setting as well as the effect of power on organizational change and
development.
This book, Organizational Behaviour, is written with the distance learning
student in mind. It is presented in a user-friendly format using a clear, lucid language.
Each unit contains an Introduction and a list of Objectives to prepare the student
for what to expect in the text. At the end of each unit are a Summary and a list of
Key Words, to aid in recollection of concepts learnt. All units contain Self-
Assessment Questions and Exercises, and strategically placed Check Your Progress
questions so the student can keep track of what has been discussed.

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 Overview of
BLOCK - I Organizational
Behaviour
AN INTRODUCTION TO ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR
NOTES

UNIT 1 OVERVIEW OF
ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR
Structure
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Objectives
1.2 Characteristics of Human Behaviour
1.3 Meaning and Nature of Organizational Behaviour
1.4 Basic Objectives
1.5 Elements of Organizational Behaviour
1.5.1 Importance of Organizational Behaviour
1.6 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
1.7 Summary
1.8 Key Words
1.9 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
1.10 Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The study of Organizational Behaviour (OB) is interesting as well as challenging. It

relates to individuals and group of individuals working together in teams. The study
becomes all the more interesting with the influence of situational factors around the
individuals. We all are aware that no two individuals are similar; hence, it depends
on the acumen of the manager to analyse the behaviour of the individual and delegate
the work to him accordingly. Organizational behaviour endeavours to gather
information with reference to a topic in a scientific manner under controlled
conditions.

1.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 Discuss the meaning and definition of organizational behaviour
 Describe the objectives and benefit of organizational behaviour
 Explain the importance of organizational behaviour
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Overview of
Organizational 1.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
Behaviour

Human behaviour, a complex phenomenon as it is, is most difficult to define in

NOTES absolute terms. It is primarily a combination of responses to external and internal
stimuli. These responses would reflect psychological structure of the person and
may be a result of a combination of biological and psychological processes. It is a
system by which a human being senses external events and influences, interprets
them, responds to them in an appropriate manner and learns from the result of
these responses.
Psychologist Kurt Levin has conducted considerable research into the human
behaviour and its causes. He believes that people are influenced by a number of
diversified factors, both genetic and environmental, and the influence of these factors
determines the pattern of behaviour. He called his conception of these influences
‘the field theory’ and suggested this formula:
B = F (P, E)
in which behaviour (B) is a function (F) of a person (P) and environment (E)
around him. It is important to recognize the effect of the ‘person’ and that of the
environment individually as well as their interaction and dependence upon each
other in order to understand the pattern of behaviour. These two factors are highly
linked with each other. Any one of these two factors individually cannot fully explain
the behaviour characteristics. An individual’s behaviour may change due to a change
in the same environment or exposure to a different environment. For example, a
person who loses a well-paying job may behave differently when he is unemployed.
Similarly, just the environment in itself cannot be the cause of or explain a given
behaviour. Different people behave differently in the same or similar environment.
However, when the situation demands, the environment may change the behaviour
of an individual. For example, certain training programmes or rehabilitation
programmes have changed the human attitudes and behaviour. Sometimes a sudden
and unexpected turn of events or a shock can also induce significant and permanent
changes in the human behaviour. For example, there are a number of stories in the
Indian religious scriptures where a known killer or a dacoit came to a temple and
his whole personality and outlook changed. Thus, the environment can change the
individual in his or her behaviour. Similarly, the individuals can also change the
environment by setting goals and standards and by determination and motivation.

1.3 MEANING AND NATURE OF

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Organizational behaviour (OB) has been defined as the knowledge of people’s

behaviour at work. It is a meaningful solution to complex human problems.
“Organizational Behaviour is the study and application of knowledge about how
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people act within an organization. It is a human tool for human benefit. It applies Overview of
Organizational
broadly to the behaviour of people in all types of organization.” The behaviour of Behaviour
people at work depends on numerous factors such as technology, structure, group,
social setup and so on. The organizational structure has a significant place in shaping
the behaviour of people. Technology helps in the performance of the job in a NOTES
successful and systematic manner. Fred Luthans has rightly emphasised on
behaviour. “Organizational behaviour is directly concerned with the understanding,
prediction and control of human behaviour in organizations.” It is the study of the
behaviour of people to improve the efficiency of the organization. The understanding
and analysis of the behaviour of people helps in motivation for achieving the
organizational goal. The study of behaviour is essential because of the different
nature of people. Besides individual differences, people are whole persons and
total human beings. Behaviour is changed as a result of motivation. Human dignity
and ethics are observed in their behaviour. An organization’s internal environment,
social environment, individual perception and learning, group affiliations and
technological development are instrumental in shaping behaviour. Behaviour is
required to be modified and developed to achieve the organizational goal.
“Organizational behaviour is concerned with the study of the behaviour,
attitudes and performance of workers in an organizational setting, the organization’s
and informal group’s effect on the worker’s perceptions, feelings and actions, the
environment’s effect on the organization and its human resources and goals, and
the effect of the workers on the organization and its effectiveness.” This definition
lays emphasis on individual attributes, the group’s effects, organizational structure
and environment for shaping the people at work. These factors are interdependent
and interrelated. Organizational behaviour is considered to be a branch of science
wherein human behaviour is studied, researched, concluded and channelized for
organizational effectiveness. Not only individual behaviour but the role of the group
and organizational structure are also studied. The interrelated and influencing
environment is appraised for deciding the typical behaviour of people at work and
their impact on the organization’s effectiveness and goal accomplishment.
Behavioural science studies the variables associated with the behaviour of people
and their performance. Stephen P. Robbins has said, “Organizational behaviour
(frequently abbreviated as OB) is a field of study that investigates the impact, that
individuals, groups and structure have on behaviour within the organizations for
the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s
effectiveness.” Organizational behaviour has become a field of study to understand
the behaviour of individuals, groups and structure. The purpose of the study is to
modify and mould their behaviour for increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of
the organization. It is a systematic study of behaviour to improve the performance
of the people and the organization. Many important activities of the people’s
development are included under organizational behaviour. Motivation, learning,
personality development, conflict resolution, stress management and interpersonal
communication are thoroughly discussed under this discipline. Behaviour depends
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Overview of on how people listen, observe, sense, ask and interact. Behaviour is a dynamic
Organizational
Behaviour process depending on the experiences of individuals and the experiences of others
related with the individuals.
Human behaviour is developed not in a vacuum but is shaped every time by
NOTES
the behaviour of others and environmental factors. The behaviour of a worker
depends on the behaviour of his boss. If the supervisor is friendlier, trusting, informal,
approachable and competent, the productivity of workers will increase and they
will undertake more challenging jobs. The systematic evaluation of the factors
influencing the behaviour of employees provides the basis for the effective
performance of their jobs. Behaviour is caused and directed towards some specific
goals. Behaviour is predictable by understanding people and situations. Different
behaviour is perceived in different situations. This is the reason that different
behaviour is exercised by different people. Beneath these differences, there are
some common behaviour traits which may ordinarily be exercised by people.
Therefore, it is possible to predict behaviour. The systematic study of behaviour
may help to predict behaviour accurately. The cause and effect analysis,
quantification of two variables of behaviour and experimental research provides
important information about behaviour and its influencing factors. The common-
sense observation of behaviour may or may not be correct as revealed by rigorous
analysis and scientific research.
Organizational behaviour is generally confused with organizational theory,
organizational psychology and human resources management. Organizational theory
is the study of structure, the system, sequences and the process of organization.
Organization behaviour, while studying all these subjects, delves into the behaviour
of individuals and groups. Organizational theory is based on macro study, whereas
organizational behaviour is a micro study of people’s behaviour. Organizational
psychology restricts its activities to psychological factors. Organizational behaviour
considers and combines all the branches of study, e.g. science, technology,
psychology, terminology, anthropology and other behavioural subjects.
Organizational behaviour has become the basis of human resources management
and development. The former is concept-oriented, whereas the latter is concerned
with the technology of human development. The variables influencing human
development are scientifically studied under organizational behaviour. Human
resources development is successful with the use of the knowledge of organizational
behaviour. There is a need for study of performance-oriented dependent variables,
the search for cause and effect for human resources development which is possible
through the use of concepts of organizational behaviour which helps personal
growth, self-actualisation, modification and organizational development. Human
relations, human activities and human resources management are activated, directed
and channelized by the application of the knowledge of organizational behaviour
which has become a field of study, research and application for the development
of human resources and the organization as a whole.

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 Overview of
Organizational
Check Your Progress Behaviour

1. What is human behaviour primarily a combination of?

2. Why is the study of behaviour essential? NOTES

1.4 BASIC OBJECTIVES

Organizational behaviour has four important roles or objectives in any organization—

the human resources approach, the contingency approach, the system approach
and the productivity approach.
Human Resources Approach
Organizational behaviour is mainly interested in the development of its human
resources. The employees’ growth and development in an organization are basic
requirements for its continuous growth and survival. The success of any organization
depends on the competency and creativity of its employees because they are the
central points of every function of management. Traditionally, managers were
important for deciding on task performances and carrying them out successfully
under their directions. Employees cannot be treated merely as order followers;
they are supportive and should be made more responsible. An organization has to
develop a suitable climate wherein employees can improve their behaviour with
job satisfaction for achieving organizational goals with efficiency and economy.
Developed employees improve their performance effectiveness. Satisfied
employees utilise their fullest capacities for task performance. Developed employees
contribute to the development of the organization with much zeal and spirit and
without creating conflicts and facing stress. If monetary incentives are given, it
encourages working only as long as monetary benefits are given. However, if
employees are developed, their capacities become increased for better work
performances throughout life. The role of the manager has changed from that of a
controlled approach to a supportive approach to employees.
Contingency Approach
Behavioural science is being used for solving problems which may arise at any
time. Behavioural knowledge is being applied to solve these problems. One or
few accepted principles cannot solve all the problems. Employees are therefore
trained to face any sort of problems. They should have the capacity to meet the
challenges of the environment. Employee-oriented leadership is better suited for
solving problems than task-oriented leadership. When situations are much more
complex, employees are to be developed to handle situations with the use of their
capacities and capabilities rather than with the use of abstract principles. Different
situations require different functions and behavioural approaches. It is known as
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Overview of the contingency approach because it believes that there is no such thing as the best
Organizational
Behaviour way to handle the problem. Solutions as per situations are more effective and
useful. This approach encourages analysis of each situation before and after
incurring the problem. The contingency approach is an interdisciplinary and system-
NOTES oriented approach of management. There is no perfect style of management. On
some occasions, the participative approach may be useful, while in some situations,
autocratic decisions will be more useful. The effectiveness of task performance is
contingent upon the situation, and organizational behaviour deals with these
contingents to arrive at an appropriate decision in a particular situation.
System Approach
The system approach includes several subsystems which exist in an organization,
and therefore affect each other. Managers have to look beyond immediate situations
to foresee future situations. There is a need for a systematic and fruitful framework
involving general relationships. The purpose is to improve organizational behaviour
for effective management. A system is developed where people work in a congenial
atmosphere. The theories of organizational behaviour are applied to the system
for achieving organizational goals. Better organizational behaviour provides greater
success of the system approach. Developed employees perform all the subsystems
in an effective manner. The organization and society are benefitted by organizational
behaviour. Better people have better organizational relationships wherein the
objectives of individuals, organization and society are served. The General System
Theory (GST) has been developed for the success of the system approach.
Productivity Approach
The ultimate objective of organizational behaviour is to increase productivity. With
the given inputs, if production is improved, it is a symbol of productivity improvement.
In other words, productivity is the production volume per unit of input. It is measured
in terms of economic inputs and outputs. Better organizational behaviour increases
the output in relation to inputs. The human behaviour is developed for performing
jobs in an effective manner. If people’s knowledge and skills are developed, their
abilities to perform tasks also increase. If proper motivation is provided, people
work to the best of their abilities. Motivation depends on the situations and attitude
of the employees.Ability and motivation determine the people’s potential performance.
If the human performance is supported with adequate resources, organizational
productivity is increased. Organizational behaviour influences people’s knowledge,
skill, attitude, ability and performance potential.

1.5 ELEMENTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL

BEHAVIOUR

The definition given in the above section has three facets—the individual behaviour,
the organization and the interface between the two. Each individual brings to an
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organization a unique set of beliefs, values, attitudes and other personal characteristics Overview of
Organizational
and these characteristics of all individuals must interact with each other in order to Behaviour
create an organizational setting. The organizational behaviour is specifically concerned
with work-related behaviour that takes place in organizations. Organizational
behaviour is a synthesis of many other fields of study and is built upon contributions NOTES
from a number of behavioural disciplines. The predominant area of psychology is
concerned with the study of individual behaviour. Other behavioural disciplines affect
the group dynamics and the organizational system.
Psychology: Psychology is a science that seeks to study, understand,
measure, explain and possibly change the behaviour of humans. Relative to
organizational environment, it assists in understanding motivation at work, individual
and interpersonal perceptions, functioning of personality, effects of training,
leadership effectiveness, job satisfaction and attitude measurement. It also studies
such behaviour patterns as fatigue, boredom and monotony that impede efficient
work performance. It also studies methodologies for behaviour modification, so
as to facilitate repetition of desirable behaviours.
Sociology: Sociology, as a science, has a major impact on the field of
organizational behaviour. It involves the study of social systems in which individuals
exercise their social roles in relation to their fellow human beings, be it within the
family or within the organization. Some of the organizational processes considered
are group dynamics, organizational structure, bureaucracy, power and conflict.
Social psychology: While psychology deals with individual behaviour, and
sociology deals with group behaviour, the social psychology examines interpersonal
behaviour. The social psychologists are concerned with inter-group collaboration,
group decision making and integration of individual needs with group activities.
Another area under investigation by social scientists is the effect of change on
individuals and how people adjust to change both in individual and group context.
Industrial psychology: Industrial psychology helps to understand the
individual reactions to industrial environment. It involves selection and placement
of individuals into particular jobs through psychological tests, study of mental health
as affected by physical industrial environment, impact of organizational structure
on human performance and the types of jobs affecting safety and morale of workers.
Anthropology: Anthropology primarily studies the cultural impact on
individual behaviour. It is our cultural heritage that builds our value system and our
sense of right and wrong that in turn affects our norms of acceptable behaviour.
The differences in behaviour under the same set of circumstances can be traced to
cultural upbringing and the values learned in the cultural environment. Thus, the
behaviour to some degree, can be predicted on the basis of cultural generalities.
Political science: Political Science, even though considered as the study
of political systems, has many ingredients that directly affect human behaviour in
organizations since politics dominates every organization to some degree. Many
themes of interest directly related to organizational behaviours are political
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Overview of manipulation, allocation of power, conflict and conflict resolution, coalition for
Organizational
Behaviour power and self-interest enhancement.
Economics: Economics aids in the understanding of economic conditions
at a given time, economic policies of the government, allocation of scarce resources
NOTES
to different competing alternatives, and all these factors affect the organizational
climate. Organizational behaviour has learned a great deal from such economic
factors as labour market dynamics, cost-benefit analysis, marginal utility analysis,
human resource planning and forecasting and decision making.
Engineering: Engineering, especially the industrial engineering branch, has
contributed significantly in the areas of time and motion study, work measurement,
work flow analysis, job design and wage and salary administration. Each of these
areas has some impact on organizational behaviour.
Medicine: It is perhaps the newest field affecting organizational behaviour.
The primary area of interest is work related stress, tension and depression. The
study of causes and consequences of stress and use of medicinal drugs to reduce
stress is fast becoming an area of study within the organizational setting.
Semantics: Semantics, one of the more recent disciplines, helps in the
study of communications within the organization. Misunderstood and misdirected
communication or simply lack of communication creates many behavioural problems.
Accordingly, total, right and properly understood communication is very important
in effective and efficient performance as per directives.
1.5.1 Importance of Organizational Behaviour
A study of organizational behaviour is beneficial in several ways. In the first place,
OB provides a road map to our lives in organizations. Every one of us has an
inherent need to know about the world in which we live. This is particularly true in
organizations, as they have a profound effect on our actions and behaviours.
Second, the field of OB uses scientific research to help us understand and
predict organizational life. This is not to say that this knowledge is absolute. The
decisions and actions that people in organizations make are determined by a complex
combination of factors. Besides, the field of OB is not a pure science.
Third, OB helps us influence organizational events. Though it is good to
understand and predict organizational events, most of us want to influence the
environment in which we live.
Fourth, OB helps an individual understand himself/herself and others better.
This helps improve interpersonal relations considerably. Of particular significance
are topics like attitude, perception, leadership, communication, and conflict, an
understanding of which will change the very style of talking and functioning of an
individual.

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 Fifth, the field of OB is useful for maintaining cordial industrial relations. If Overview of
Organizational
an employee is slow in his or her work, or if his or her productivity is steadily Behaviour
declining, it is not always because of denial of promotion or a poor work environment.
The relations between management and employees are often strained for reasons
which are personnel issues, not technical. NOTES
Finally, in the last couple of years, the Indian economy has been witnessing
an upward trend; every sector in the economy doing pretty well, registering an
overall growth rate of seven per cent per annum. In order to sustain this trend,
effective management of all sectors of the economy, particularly the industrial sector,
is of paramount importance. This is where OB comes into the picture. It is a
discipline which enables a manager to motivate his or her subordinates towards
higher productivity and better results.

Check Your Progress

3. What does the success of any organization depend on?
4. What is psychology?
5. What does industrial psychology involve?

1.6 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

QUESTIONS

1. Human behaviour is primarily a combination of responses to external and

internal stimuli.
2. The study of behaviour is essential because of the different nature of people.
Besides individual differences, people are whole persons and total human
beings.
3. The success of any organization depends on the competency and creativity
of its employees because they are the central points of every function of
management.
4. Psychology is a science that seeks to study, understand, measure, explain
and possibly change the behaviour of humans.
5. Industrial psychology involves selection and placement of individuals into
particular jobs through psychological tests, study of mental health as affected
by physical industrial environment, impact of organizational structure on
human performance and the types of jobs affecting safety and morale of
workers.

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Overview of
Organizational 1.7 SUMMARY
Behaviour

 Human behaviour, a complex phenomenon as it is, is most difficult to define

NOTES in absolute terms. It is primarily a combination of responses to external and
internal stimuli.
 People are influenced by a number of diversified factors, both genetic and
environmental, and the influence of these factors determines the pattern of
behaviour.
 Organizational behaviour has been defined as the knowledge of people’s
behaviour at work. It is a meaningful solution to complex human problems.
 Human behaviour is developed not in a vacuum but is shaped every time by
the behaviour of others and environmental factors.
 Organizational theory is the study of structure, the system, sequences and
the process of organization. Organization behaviour, while studying all these
subjects, delves into the behaviour of individuals and groups.
 Organizational behaviour has four important roles or objectives in any
organization—the human resources approach, the contingency approach,
the system approach and the productivity approach.
 The ultimate objective of organizational behaviour is to increase productivity.
With the given inputs, if production is improved, it is a symbol of productivity
improvement.
 Organizational behaviour is a synthesis of many other fields of study and is
built upon contributions from a number of behavioural disciplines.
 The predominant area of psychology is concerned with the study of individual
behaviour.
 A study of OB is beneficial in several ways. In the first place, OB provides
a road map to our lives in organizations. OB helps influence organizational
events, is useful for maintaining cordial industrial relations and helps managers
and employees in many ways.

1.8 KEY WORDS

 Semantics: It is the linguistic and philosophical study of meaning, in language,

programming languages, formal logics, and semiotics.
 Human Behaviour: It refers to the full range of physical and emotional
behaviours that humans engage in; biologically, socially, intellectually, etc.
and are influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, ethics, authority,
rapport, persuasion, coercion and/or genetics.
 Social Psychology: It is the branch of psychology that deals with social
Self-Instructional
interactions, including their origins and their effects on the individual.
10 Material
 Overview of
1.9 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND Organizational
Behaviour
EXERCISES

Short-Answer Questions NOTES

1. What is human behaviour? What are its causes?

2. Define organizational behaviour.
3. What is the systems approach to organizational behaviour?
Long-Answer Questions
1. Examine the various roles of organizational behaviour.
2. Explain the interrelationship between various behavioural fields of study
and organizational behaviour.
3. Describe how the study of organizational behaviour is beneficial.

1.10 FURTHER READINGS

Mishra, M.N. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Noida: Vikas Publishing House.

Robbins, Stephen P. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Davis, Keith. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Singh, Kavita. 2015. Organizational Behaviour: Text and Cases, 3rd Edition.
Noida: Vikas Publishing House.
Gordon, Judith R. 2001. Organizational Behavior: A Diagnostic. New Delhi:
Prentice Hall.
Aswathappa, K. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd.

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Foundations of
Individual Behaviour
UNIT 2 FOUNDATIONS OF
INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR
NOTES
Structure
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Objectives
2.2 Factors Influencing Individual Behaviour: Positive and Negative Individual
Behaviour and Personal Factors
2.3 Environmental Factors
2.4 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
2.5 Summary
2.6 Key Words
2.7 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
2.8 Further Readings

2.0 INTRODUCTION

In the previous unit, you were introduced to basic concepts of organizational

behaviour. In this unit, we will discuss foundational concepts of individual behaviour.
You learnt in unit 1 that human behaviour is a mix of responses to external and
internal stimuli. It is the way a person reacts in different situations and the way
someone expresses different emotions like anger, happiness, love, etc. In this unit,
the discussion on individual behaviour will continue. We will examine the factors
that influence individual behaviour, with a look at personal and environmental factors
that shape individual behaviour.

2.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 Discuss the causes and categories of individual behaviour
 Explain the environmental factors of individual behaviour

2.2 FACTORS INFLUENCING INDIVIDUAL

BEHAVIOUR: POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE
INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR AND PERSONAL
FACTORS

It has been established that certain characteristics of behaviour are genetic in nature,
and a human being inherits a certain degree of similarity to other individuals, as
well as uniqueness in the form of genes and chromosomes. Some of the
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characteristics such as physical traits including physical height, slimness, dexterity, Foundations of
Individual Behaviour
intellectual capacity and the ability to learn and logicalize are all inherited and have
a wide impact on behavioural patterns.
According to R.S. Dwivedi, the structures of the nervous system play a
NOTES
significant part in the emerging pattern of behaviour thus bringing about the integration
of human behaviour and personality. Some psychologists believe that some aspects
of human behaviour can be explained in terms of neural activity and neuro-
physiological processes. Dwivedi further explains:
‘Integration of human behaviour takes place because of the constant
functioning of receptors, effectors and connectors. Here the nervous system is
primarily involved in the connecting process. The numerous receptor cells attached
to the individual’s sense organs tend to convert physical and chemical events from
the environment into neural events while the several effector cells attached to the
muscles and glands convert these neural events into responses.’
These responses result in behavioural activity ranging from simple reflex
action to the complex creative activity.
Behaviour is sometimes easily explained by laymen as a reflection of the
state of the nervous system. This causal relationship is referred to continuously
during our daily routine impressions and conversations. For example, when
somebody loses patience quickly, we tend to brand him as ‘stupid’, and the
behaviour is explained by a lack of intelligence where intelligence reflects a state of
neural system. Similarly, a person whose behaviour is depressive is considered to
be having a ‘nervous breakdown’. In other words, it is implied that a man exhibits
a certain type of behaviour because he was ‘born that way’, again pointing to
genetic structure.
Causes of Human Behaviour
As discussed earlier, both scientific thinkers as well as behaviourists have always
been interested in finding out the causes for a given human behaviour. Science has
always been involved in explaining a phenomenon by looking at its causes and
then establishing a relationship between a cause and its effect. For example, the
cause of formation of water is mixing of two parts of hydrogen and one part of
oxygen in a given manner. Accordingly, the effect of water can be explained by its
cause. This relationship is scientific and every time, the same cause will produce
the same effect. Similarly, the behaviour scientists want to find out the causes for
why people behave in a certain way. If these causes can be established, then
certain types of behaviour can be predicted, manipulated and controlled.
The assumption that the study of any subject begins in the realm of superstition
has some validity. For example, the scientific field of astronomy started as astrology.
Similarly, the study and prediction of behaviour has its roots in superstitious beliefs
in supernatural phenomenon. Even though such beliefs are not supported by
science, they are still socially prevalent. Any conspicuous event that coincides with
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Foundations of some part of general human behaviour is likely to be seized upon as a cause.
Individual Behaviour
Many such beliefs have been extensively discussed by B.F. Skinner. He cites as
an example, the belief of many people that the position of various planets at the
exact time of the birth of the individual determines many aspects of his behaviour,
NOTES such as whether he is temperamental, impulsive, trustworthy, and so on. Millions
of people who read the daily horoscope would testify to this belief, even though
these horoscopes describe only general characteristics and general predictions
that could be interpreted to be applicable to any person, irrespective of when he
was born. The ‘science’ of astrology is taken very seriously in most underdeveloped
countries and even in the technologically and scientifically advanced countries,
astrologers are seriously consulted. In India, for example, many business meetings
are arranged on the advice of astrologers. Former Prime Minister of India, Indira
Gandhi and Ronald Reagan, Former President of America have been known to
have arranged important political conferences in consultation with astrologers.
The position of planets at birth, as a cause, is not considered as predicting specific
actions or unique aspects of behaviour of an individual, but only general
characteristics such as whether the person is impulsive or thoughtful, even though
some of these general characteristics may be explained as being responsible for
some specific action of the individual. For example, a quick but wrong decision
can be attributed to ‘impulsiveness’, that is identified by astrology. It is strange
that there is a lack of serious questioning to its validity, even though the process
proposes that all mankind can be divided into 12 monthly categories as far as their
behaviour pattern is concerned.
Then there are numerologists who propose another cause of behaviour.
This has to do with a person’s name. They believe and propose that the choice of
a person’s name is not a coincidence but a predetermined and predestined
phenomenon that is associated with the person’s behaviour. Based upon this
philosophy, certain patterns of behaviour are identified and predicted by the number
and types of letters in a person’s name. Each letter of the alphabet has been
assigned a number. Thus, the letters of the name are replaced by their respective
numbers. These numbers are then manipulated and an end result of a single number
is obtained. This last number can be used to find some behavioural characteristics
associated with this number, as explained by numerologists.
Common practice is to explain behaviour in terms of certain physical
characteristics of a person, the most important of these characteristics being the
lines on the palm. Palmistry or palm reading is often explained as a science and
has been made popular by Cherio and Saint Germain, who practised the ‘art’ of
palmistry and wrote extensively about it. The four major lines on the palm of the
hand are the Life line, the Heart line, the Brain line or the line of education and
intelligence and the Fate line. These major lines are supported by scores of smaller
lines, crosses, stars, islands and branches. There are special lines about number of
marriages and children and all these lines are supposed to predict not only how
long the person will live or whether he will be rich or poor but also such behavioural
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14 Material
 Another common practice is to explain behaviour in terms of the physical Foundations of
Individual Behaviour
structure of the individual. It is sometimes said that the eyes betray the character of
the person. Similarly, certain ideas can be formed about behaviour on the basis of
whether the person is fat or tall or slim. Whether there is a correlation between
body structure and behaviour has not been scientifically demonstrated. Even if NOTES
there is such a correlation between the two, it is not always clear which is the
independent variable and which is the dependent variable. For example, we cannot
be sure whether fat people are jolly because, being at a disadvantage, they develop
jolly nature as a competitive edge or whether jolly people are fat because they are
free of emotional disturbances and enjoy their life by eating, drinking and not
caring too much about their physique.
The theory of ‘born’ leaders suggests that some people behave in a certain
manner, because they were born that way. The belief is based upon the assumption
that certain behavioural characteristics are genetic in nature and are inherited. If
we know that a person has certain inherited qualities and limitations, then we may
be able to use our control techniques more intelligently.
Categories of Human Behaviour
There are two categories in which the causes of human behaviour can be classified.
These are: (1) inherited characteristics and (2) learned characteristics. Let us explain
each of these two in more detail.
Inherited characteristics
Some of the inherited characteristics that may or may not be changed by external
forces and may or may not be important determinants of performance are as
follows:
Physical characteristics: Some of these characteristics relate to physical
height, slim body, vision, dexterity and stamina and have some bearing on
performance. Manual dexterity, for example, results in quality performance in such
jobs that require artistic manoeuvring. Similarly, tall and slim people are expected
to dress well and behave in a sophisticated manner, and fat people are assumed to
have a jovial nature.
Intelligence: Intelligence is primarily an inherited trait, even though children
of some very intelligent parents have turned out to be less intelligent and vice
versa. It is also known that intelligence can be enhanced by proper environment or
by proper motivation. Einstein was not considered very intelligent during his earlier
years. In any case, intelligence as a trait is related to certain behaviour. Intelligent
people are easy to convince if the point is right and they can be expected to be
much more stable and predictable.
Sex: Being a male or a female is genetic in nature and can be considered as
an inherited characteristic. However, it is highly debatable whether being a male or
a female in itself is indicative of any behavioural patterns. Man is expected to be
tough while a woman is expected to be gentle. Men ‘never cry’ and women are Self-Instructional
Material 15
Foundations of ‘highly emotional’, are some of the stereotyped assumptions that have no basis in
Individual Behaviour
genetic influences. These behaviour are developed, if at all, due to differences in
treatment that boys and girls receive in the family environment.
Even though some work roles are assumed to be the exclusive domain of
NOTES
women, such as nurses or airline stewardesses, these roles are being modified to
accommodate men in these positions. As far as the administration of the management
process is concerned, women in general do not differ from men in their operative
behaviour.
Age: Since age is determined by the date of birth, it is a kind of inherited
characteristic. Age may affect the behaviour in physiological as well as psychological
ways. Psychologically, young people are expected to be more energetic, innovative,
risk taking and adventurous, while old people are supposed to be conservative
and set in their ways. Physiologically, with age, older people experience waning of
some of their faculties such as memory, stamina, coordination, and so on, and
hence the related behaviours change as well. According to Lehman, the peak of
creative ability is among people between the ages of 30 and 40.
Religion: Religion and cultures based on it play an important role in
determining some aspects of individual behaviour, especially those that concern
morals, ethics and a code of conduct. Highly religious people have high moral
standards and usually do not tell lies or talk ill of others. They are highly contented
and thus strive for achievement and self-fulfilment. Additionally, religion and culture
also determine attitudes towards work and towards financial incentives.
Learned characteristics
Some of the behavioural characteristics that account for enormous diversity in
human behaviour are a product of our exposure to various situations and stimuli,
both within the family and the outside environment. These characteristics are
acquired by learning where learning is defined as a ‘relatively permanent change in
behaviour resulting from interactions with the environment.’
These characteristics involve an individual’s attitudes, values and perceptions
about the environment around him. They are the result of parental values and
expectations and the values and norms of our culture and sub-cultures. Children
learn the need and values of being honest and truthful and the value of love and
affection from the family environment. If the parents are always fighting, if the
father is always drunk or if the mother resents the child, it is most likely that the
child will grow up lacking the warmth of love and respect. Similarly, a loving family
instils certain positive values about life in the minds of the children.
The physical environment itself has a profound effect on the individual
behaviour. Persons who have come through the rigorous routine of the armed
forces or students who have been active sportsmen may have learned the spirit of
competition as well as cooperation. Similarly, students who have studied in religious
schools and convents may have learned different values about truth and human
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16 Material
 Since inherited behavioural characteristics are more difficult to change or Foundations of
Individual Behaviour
modify, it is the learned characteristics that the managers want to study, predict
and control. Hence these will be discussed in more detail in the following units, but
a brief familiarity with this factor is necessary here. Some of these learned
characteristics are as follows: NOTES
Perception: Perception is the process by which information enters our
minds and is interpreted in order to give some sensible meaning to the world
around us. It is the result of a complex interaction of various senses such as feeling,
seeing, hearing, etc. Sayings and proverbs like ‘things are not what they seem’ or
‘all that glitters is not gold’, reflect a sense of perception. ‘One man’s meat is
another man’s poison’, is in a psychological sense an indication that different people
see and sense the same thing in different ways.
Perception plays an important part in human as well as organizational
behaviour. For example, if a manager perceives a subordinate’s ability as limited,
he will give him limited responsibility, even if the subordinate, in fact, is an able
person. Similarly, we lose a lot of good friends due to our changed perceptions
about them.
Attitude: Attitude may be defined as the organization of a perception within
a frame of reference. It can also be described as the manner in which an individual
behaves, reacts, thinks or perceives a particular object in a given situation. It is a
tendency to act in a certain way, either favourably or unfavourably concerning
objects, people or events. For example, if I say that ‘I like my job,’ I am expressing
my attitude towards my work.
Attitude has three elements in it that lead to measurable outcomes. These
are feelings, thoughts and behaviour. Feelings and thoughts can be measured by
simply asking individuals about their feelings and opinions. Behaviour can be
measured either by actual overt actions or simply by asking the person how he
would act in a certain situation. By measuring and integrating these three elements,
a person’s attitude towards a given situation can be established.
In general, a person may have a positive attitude that is good outlook of life,
or negative attitude that means continuous complaining about problems in life.
Organizationally speaking, an employee’s negative attitude about work may be
reflected by substandard work performance, excessive absenteeism, excessive
complaining about work environment or disobedience to rules of authority. These
attitudes can be changed either by simple persuasion or by training and coaching.
Kelman has identified three processes that act as instruments of change. The first
is compliance, that is application of subtle pressure either through reward or
punishment in order to change the behaviour, and expecting this change to be
lasting.
The second process is that of identification with the person who is affecting
the change and is acting as a change agent. This change agent could be a close
friend who wants you to change and you respect and love him enough to do so to
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Foundations of please him. In marriage, for example, both the husband and the wife make a lot of
Individual Behaviour
sacrifices and change their behaviour to please each other. The third process is the
process of internalization, that is more permanent in nature. This means that the
new attitude is integrated with the other attitudes and becomes a part of the person’s
NOTES total personality. This change may occur through internal soul searching and the
desire to change that comes from within.
Personality: When we describe people as quiet and passive or loud and
aggressive or ambitious, we are portraying an aspect of their personality. A set of
traits, habits and characteristics comprise the personality of an individual. This
may also include conditioned responses that an individual may express to a set of
given stimuli which in a way also contribute towards creating an impression of an
individual upon others. This personality may come out as warm and friendly, or
arrogant and aggressive. Many psychologists contend that personality traits develop
in the early childhood years and very few personality changes can be made after
the childhood years. There are different types of personality traits. Some of them
can be biological in nature while others may be learned over a period of time.
Examples of biological traits include physical build and intelligence. The traits which
are learned over a period of time are patience, open mindedness, outspoken nature,
introvertness or extrovertness in behaviour, etc.
Some of these personality traits are highly influential in certain organizational
operations from organizational behaviour point of view. For example, Tedeschi
and Lindskold propose that people who are open minded seem to work better in
bargaining agreements than people who are narrow minded. Similarly, people
who are extroverts and outgoing are more likely to be successful as managers
than those who are introverts.

2.3 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

While behaviour is a reaction to situations and the type of reaction is based upon
some inherited and some learned behavioural characteristics, the environment is
an important catalyst in determining such type of reactions. If the environment is
complementary to established behaviour, then the actions are positively reinforced.
However, if the environment is hostile to the values and skills of the worker, then
negative reactions take place. For example, some of the coolest people have
been known to lose temper under certain situations. Highly skilled people have
changed jobs because the environment in the job situations was not conductive to
their enhancement. On the other hand, less skilled people have learned skills and
forged ahead because of the right environment.
The environment surrounding the work place has two elements. These are
physical and social. The physical environment at a work place is the arrangement

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of people and things so that this setting has a positive influence on people. Some of Foundations of
Individual Behaviour
the physical factors that influence behaviour are noise level, heat, light, ventilation,
cleanliness, accessibility to work tools, space utilization, colour coordination, nature
of job, office furnishing and number of people working at a given place. The open
communication between the manager and the subordinates has a positive effect on NOTES
behaviour. The common cafeteria for management and workers in the factories
and offices in Japan has been known to be highly motivating to workers. Recent
studies in “open wall” office concept showed that some employees were more
productive and satisfied with their work place in open space when their jobs did
not require private office space.
The social environment relates to interaction among people and respect for
numerous social and societal laws, rules and norms created by people to regulate
and control behaviour of people. These social influences are affected by family
environment, friends, associates, peers at work and groups to which an individual
belongs. Much of the behaviour is an outcome of respect for norms and laws.
Norms are unwritten rules and informal expectations about how people behave in
certain social situations. For example, standing at the back of a line for a service is
expected behaviour from people. Any person bypassing the line will be ridiculed
and perhaps not allowed to do so. These norms are useful in standardizing behaviour
of all people in a particular environment. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”
is perhaps intended to respect the norms of a certain social group that you come in
contact with.
Rules and laws on the other hand are formalized and written standards of
behaviour. Both rules and laws are strictly enforced; laws by the legal system and
rules by the social system. Laws relate to all members of the society. For example,
stealing property of others is illegal and punishable by law and applies to all people
within the system. Rules on the other hand affect only a particular segment of the
society. These may be rules of a family, a group, a club or an organization. Working
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. is an organizational rule. Airlines have certain rules about
wearing safety belt and smoking. There are rules for visitors visiting a public place
or a tourist place.
Observing the norms, rules and laws voluntarily makes for an orderly society
and allows for predictability of behaviours.

Check Your Progress

1. What does the theory of ‘born’ leaders suggest?
2. Define the learned characteristics of behaviour.
3. What are the two elements of the environment surrounding the work place?

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Foundations of
Individual Behaviour 2.4 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
QUESTIONS

NOTES 1. The theory of ‘born’ leaders suggests that some people behave in a certain
manner, because they were born that way. The belief is based upon the
assumption that certain behavioural characteristics are genetic in nature and
are inherited.
2. Those characteristics that are a product of our exposure to various situations
and stimuli, both within the family and the outside environment are known
as learned characteristics of behaviour.
3. The environment surrounding the work place has two elements. These are
physical and social.

2.5 SUMMARY

 Human behaviour, a complex phenomenon as it is, is most difficult to define

in absolute terms. It is primarily a combination of responses to external and
internal stimuli.
 It has been established that certain characteristics of behaviour are genetic
in nature, and a human being inherits a certain degree of similarity to other
individuals, as well as uniqueness in the form of genes and chromosomes.
 The theory of ‘born’ leaders suggests that some people behave in a certain
manner, because they were born that way. The belief is based upon the
assumption that certain behavioural characteristics are genetic in nature and
are inherited. If we know that a person has certain inherited qualities and
limitations, then we may be able to use our control techniques more
intelligently.
 There are two categories in which the causes of human behaviour can be
classified. These are: (1) inherited characteristics and (2) learned
characteristics.
 Attitude may be defined as the organization of a perception within a frame
of reference. It can also be described as the manner in which an individual
behaves, reacts, thinks or perceives a particular object in a given situation.
 When we describe people as quiet and passive or loud and aggressive or
ambitious, we are portraying an aspect of their personality. A set of traits,
habits and characteristics comprise the personality of an individual.
 While behaviour is a reaction to situations and the type of reaction is based
upon some inherited and some learned behavioural characteristics, the
environment is an important catalyst in determining such type of reactions.

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  The environment surrounding the work place has two elements. These are Foundations of
Individual Behaviour
physical and social.
 The physical environment at a work place is the arrangement of people and
things so that this setting has a positive influence on people.
NOTES
 The social environment relates to interaction among people and respect for
numerous social and societal laws, rules and norms created by people to
regulate and control behaviour of people.

2.6 KEY WORDS

 Chromosomes: It is a threadlike structure of nucleic acids and protein

found in the nucleus of most living cells, carrying genetic information in the
form of genes.
 Perception: It means the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something
through the senses.
 Attitude: It refers to a set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviours toward a
particular object, person, thing, or event.

2.7 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND

EXERCISES

Short-Answer Questions
1. What is perception?
2. Define attitude.
3. What is the social environment?
Long-Answer Questions
1. Explain the causes of human behaviour.
2. Examine the inherited and learned characteristics of human behaviour.
3. Describe the dependent and independent variables of human behaviour.

2.8 FURTHER READINGS

Mishra, M.N. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Noida: Vikas Publishing House.

Robbins, Stephen P. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Davis, Keith. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New
York: McGraw Hill.

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Material 21
Foundations of Singh, Kavita. 2015. Organizational Behaviour: Text and Cases, 3rd Edition.
Individual Behaviour
Noida: Vikas Publishing House.
Gordon, Judith R. 2001. Organizational Behavior: A Diagnostic. New Delhi:
Prentice Hall.
NOTES
Aswathappa, K. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd.

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 Overview of Personality

UNIT 3 OVERVIEW OF
PERSONALITY
NOTES
Structure
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Objectives
3.2 Personality: Definitions, Determinants and Influence of Personality
3.3 Personality Development
3.3.1 Theories of Personality
3.4 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
3.5 Summary
3.6 Key Words
3.7 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
3.8 Further Readings

3.0 INTRODUCTION

The concept of personality is often discussed in our daily routine and while coming
across different people, one may associate different individuals with varied
personalities. For example, one particular individual may be having a pleasing
personality while another may be having an arrogant personality. Similarly, one
individual may be having an aggressive personality while another individual
submissive personality. Sometimes, we refer to disagreements among people which
possibly arise due to personality conflicts. Personality of an individual can be found
out from his behavioural traits or temperament. In this unit, you will study about
the definition, determinants, and development of personality.

3.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 Define personality
 List the determinants of personality
 Examine the development of personality
 Discuss the various theories of personality

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Overview of Personality
3.2 PERSONALITY: DEFINITIONS,
DETERMINANTS AND INFLUENCE OF
PERSONALITY
NOTES
Personality of an individual plays an extremely important role in assessing the
behaviour of a person at an organization. In case an individual who is holding a
senior position in an organization has a wrong type of personality, it may lead to a
very bad impact on the relationship between superior and his subordinates and
ultimately it may lead to protests and unrest at the workplace. Sometimes the
personality difficulties are the root cause of labour strikes. No matter how good
the superior is in technical knowledge or other behavioural characteristics, it is the
‘temperament’ of the superior that is crucial in ensuring a cordial interaction with
subordinates.
Personality has been defined by Salvatore Maddi as follows:
‘Personality is a stable set of characteristics and tendencies that determine
those commonalties and differences in the psychological behaviour (thoughts, feeling
and actions) of people that have continuity in time and that may not be easily
understood as the sole result of the social and biological pressures of the moment.’
This definition however has several aspects which must be considered.
Stability of characteristics is the first important aspect which needs to be considered.
Consistency in an individual’s characteristics will actually define the consistency of
the behavioural patterns that may be expressed by an individual. If a person’s
entire personality could change suddenly, then we would not be able to predict his
personality traits. For example, if a person is sometimes warm and friendly and at
other times he is cold and hostile, then we cannot conclude that his personality is
warm and friendly. Accordingly, when assessing a person’s personality, we need
to look for characteristics that are relatively stable or that change only very slowly
over a long period of time.
Understanding the ‘commonalities and differences’ is another important
aspect. This helps in assessing the different aspects that an individual has similar to
others and what are those points which actually make him different from the others
and set him apart as an individual. Each and every person
 like all other people
 like some other people
 like no other person
Organizationally, a manager must understand that all subordinates are not
alike and that each subordinate is unique and may or may not respond to the same
stimuli, such as pay raise or reprimands.
Finally, we are interested in such aspects of personality that induce people
to behave in a manner as required by social pressures or biological pressures. For
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example, if your boss wants you to do a job in a certain way, you will do it even if Overview of Personality

you disagree with your boss. That is a kind of social pressure. Similarly, you will
stop working and go for lunch because you are hungry. That is a biological pressure.
Hence, these behaviours do not require any explanation in terms of personality
factors because the causes of such behaviour are clearly understood. NOTES

Determinants and Structure of Personality

Let us now study about the determinants and structure of personality.
Type A and Type B personality and behaviour
One dimension of personality that is getting attention both from organizational as
well as medical researchers is the Type A and Type B behaviour profiles. The
Type A behaviour individuals are most of the times restless and impatient in their
expressions. They generally aim at perfectionism and want to achieve results as
quickly as possible in lesser amount of time. The other type of the individuals are
those with Type B behaviour. These are generally more relaxed and patient in their
expression. They do not feel the pressure of timelines. These individuals are more
philosophical in nature and are however less competitive.
Some of the characteristics of the individuals with Type A personality are as
follows:
 They are generally restless so they eat rapidly and keep walking or are
generally on the move.
 They have the tendency to perform several tasks at one given time.
 They are generally impatient in their expressions; do not like to waste
their time in waiting for others.
 They are also impatient about other individuals who are not really
impatient.
 They have habit of starting with newer tasks before completing the
previous ones.
 They normally schedule greater number of activities in lesser time though
they are initially themselves not really sure that whether everything will
be done or not.
 At times, they are involved in nervous gestures such as banging on the
table and using clenched fists, etc.
 They generally do not have time to relax or enjoy life.
Thus, the Type A personality individuals are generally obsessive in nature.
The managers who possess the traits of this personality pay attention to details,
are hard-driving in nature and also keep their team members pushed towards
achieving performance.

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Overview of Personality Individuals with Type B personality are generally the opposite to the Type A
individuals. These type of individuals are more relaxed and sociable in nature.
They have a balanced outlook in life.
Type A managers have difficulties in creating cordial interpersonal
NOTES
relationships and create a lot of stress for themselves and the people they deal
with. They specially feel pressurized if they have to complete a task within a given
deadline. Type B persons on the other hand, do put in extra effort in order to meet
a deadline but do not feel pressurized.
Those persons who are classified as Type A have a strong desire and
tendency to control all aspects of the situation, and if they are unable to control a
situation, they react with anger and frustration. Because of their obsession with
perfection, they are more apt to fear of failure and even if their work is good, they
tend to underestimate the quality of their work. In case of negative outcomes, they
blame themselves more than the external factors.
A comprehensive identification of Type A personality is given by Karen A.
Mathews as follows:
The Type A pattern can be observed in any person who is aggressively
involved in a chronic, incessant struggle to achieve more and more in less and less
time, and if required to do so, against the opposing efforts of other things or other
persons. The overt manifestations of this struggle include explosive, accelerated
speech, a heightened pace of living, impatience with slowness, concentrating on
more than one activity at a time, self-preoccupation, dissatisfaction with life,
evaluation of the worthiness of one’s activities in terms of numbers, a tendency to
challenge and compete with others even in non-competitive situations, and a free
floating hostility. The major facets of ‘core’ elements of the behaviour pattern are
extremes of aggression, easily aroused hostility, a sense of time urgency and
competitive achievement surviving.
Research has indicated that such patterns of behaviour as exhibited by Type
A personality profile, lead to health problems, specially heart related illness. In
contrast, Type B persons may be hard working but feel no pressing conflict with
people or time and hence are not prone to stress and coronary problems.
Assessment of Personality
While we know what personality is, we are interested to know how a given
personality is formed. What determines an individual’s personality? Personality
can be compared to a jigsaw puzzle in which we are interested in finding out the
sources of all the pieces in the puzzle as well as their interrelationships.
There are two broad categories of factors that influence the formation and
development of personality. These are heredity factors and environmental factors.
It is debatable as to which of these factors have a greater influence on the structure
of personality. Some behaviour scientists argue that personality characteristics are
derived from heredity factors and the right type of environment only brings them
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out. Others feel that the effect of environment is quite strong. According to Maier, Overview of Personality

‘knowledge, skill and language are obviously acquired and represent important
modifications of behaviour. Learned modifications in behaviour are not passed on
to children, they must be acquired by them through their own personal experience.’
NOTES
Thus, a probable consensus can be reached that it is both hereditary and
environmental factors together affect the personality development of an individual.
There may be some environmental constraints or limitations at times which may
not allow an individual to completely realize his potential. However, the complete
potential of an individual comprising both physical as well as psychological aspects
may be determined by the hereditary aspects that is the complex set of genes.
Influence of Personality on Behaviour
There is an enormous number of human traits. It has been estimated that there may
be as many as 5,000 adjectives that could be used to describe personality traits.
As has been discussed before, personality is a set of relatively stable characteristics
or dimensions of people that account for consistency in their behaviour in various
situations. There are a few very important dimensions of personality which can be
related to both interpersonal and organizational behaviour. These may be described
as follows:
Authoritarianism: When an individual blindly accepts authority, it is
referred as authoritarianism. The individuals believing in this concept have a high
respect for authority and follow all the directions extended by the authority
extremely obediently. They adhere to conventional values, are generally
conservative, endorse strong parental control in keeping the family close and
together, are concerned with toughness and power, are closed minded and generally
less educated.
Such people generally prove to be very good followers. This is because of
their strong belief in the hierarchical order. They prove to be very good assets for
a company when they work under the directions of a defined supervisor and they
are extremely productive under an authoritarian organizational set up.
‘Dogmatism’ can also be closely related with ‘Authoritarianism’. Dogmatism
refers to expression of rigidity in one’s beliefs. A highly dogmatic person is closed
minded, and believes in blind obedience to authority and intolerance towards others.
They are generally known as fanatics such as religious fanatics or political fanatics
like hard core communists or right wing Nazis.
Bureaucratic personality: A bureaucratic individual also respects
organizational rules and regulations but he differs from an authoritarian person in
the manner that he may not blindly accept the directions of an authority. He also
has respect for the authority; however this respect is not total and blind in case of
a bureaucratic individual. Such individuals definitely value rules, policies, processes,
regulations, subordination, formal and informal relationships in an organization.
They are generally not innovative, do not take risks and are at ease in following
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Overview of Personality established directives. Bureaucratic managers are better supervisors in types of
work that are routine, repetitive and procedurized.
Machiavellianism: A sixteenth century author named Niccolò Machiavelli
worked in the field of personality and identified personality profiles of the noble
NOTES
men of the day. The term called Machiavellianism has also been associated with
the name of this author. This type of personality wishes to exercise a control over
others simply by manipulating others. They do this primarily with the objective of
achieving some personal goals. The individuals having this type of personality have
high self-confidence and high self-esteem. They always take calculated steps and
do not hesitate while using others for their own advantage and selfish interest.
Their sole objective is to meet their own objectives and goals. They believe that
ends justify means and do not feel guilty in using unethical means to serve their
own interests. They are skilled in influencing others, and they approach the situations
thoughtfully and logically. They would not hesitate to lie if necessary, and they are
not easily swayed by a sense of friendship, trust or loyalty. They are especially
successful in exploiting structured situations and vulnerable people.
Problem solving style: These individuals indulge in different ways and
means and they have their own style of making decisions. These facets are also
reflected through their personality traits. For example, some of the people with
this type of personality are well planned, thorough in their approach, pay attention
to details, etc. However, some others are impulsive and they just go ahead with
something which is extremely obvious. The problem solving style has two
dimensions. These dimensions are:
(i) Collecting and organizing data.
(ii) Making decisions using the data and information gathered from the
data.
Further, in the process of information gathering also, two styles are involved.
These are:
(i) Sensation: The first style is known as sensation. Sensation-oriented
people prefer routine and order, structured situations, and put emphasis
on precise and well-defined details.
(ii) The second style known as intuitive style, involves individuals who
dislike routine, dislike repetition and prefer new problems. They enjoy
learning new skills but follow their instinct and jump to conclusions.
Such persons often enjoy fantasy, daydream a lot and thus are subject
to greater error of fact. They change their mind quickly and often do
not finish what they start before going to a new project.
Evaluation involves making judgements on the basis of the information so
gathered. There are two dimensions involved in the evaluation style. These are:
(i) Emphasis on feeling
(ii) Emphasis on thinking
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 Feeling type people are sensitive to conflict and try to avoid issues that Overview of Personality

might result in disagreements. They are emotional and spontaneous and base their
decision on how they feel about the situations. They do not like to hurt other
people and friendly relationships to them are more important than efficiency or
achievement. Feeling type managers find it hard to reprimand their subordinates NOTES
for inadequate performances and would rather advise, guide and help them.
Thinking type people are more logical, analytical and use reason when solving
problems. They are unemotional and are unsympathetic to other people’s feelings
when making judgements. They are very stubborn about defending their ‘principles’
and what they believe is right. They are organized and well-structured, and they
carefully consider all options before making decisions.
Introvert and Extrovert Personalities
Introvert personalities are generally shy in nature and they prefer to be alone. They
do not freely communicate with others and may feel hesitant while communicating
with others. The extrovert personalities are however different from the introverts
and they are most of the times outspoken and outgoing in their behaviour. They
are at times aggressive also and are capable of interacting effectively with people.
According to L.W. Morris, the introvert is behaviourally described as ‘quiet,
introspective, intellectual, well-ordered, emotionally unexpressive and value
oriented, prefers small groups of intimate friends and plans well ahead.’ On the
other hand, an extrovert is best described as, ‘sociable, lively, impulsive, seeking
novelty and change, carefree and emotionally expressive.’
From an organizational point of view, it can be assumed that most managers
would be extroverts since a manager’s role involves working with and through
other people. One the other hand, an extreme introvert works best when alone in
a quiet office without external interruption or influences.
Self-esteem
Self-esteem may be defined as the level of respect that one may have for himself.
It may be defined as the measure of one’s own confidence level. It is also indicative
of the respect that one has for his capabilities and motivation standards. Self-
esteem has been placed as a higher level motivational need of an individual as per
the Maslow’s model of hierarchical needs. Self-esteem can be correlated with
traits like independence, creativity and assertiveness. The individuals with high
self-esteem levels are generally very friendly in their behaviour. They are also
affectionate and relate easily with people. They are good at interpersonal skills
and are capable of appreciating other people for their positive qualities and strengths.
Low self-esteem people are the people who are generally critical of others. They
exhibit a depressing behaviour and most of the times indulge in blaming others for
their own failures.
At the level of an organization, the people with high-esteem generally prove
to be better performers than the ones with low self-esteem. The poor performance
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Overview of Personality faced by the people with low self-esteem further reinforces their behavioural traits.
According to Abraham K. Korman, ‘People of high self-perceived competence
and self-image should be more likely to achieve on task performance than those
who have low self-image concerning the task or job at hand, since such differential
NOTES task achievement would be consistent with their self-cognitions. This assumes that
task performance is seen as valued.’

Check Your Progress

1. What is authoritarianism?
2. What is self-esteem?

3.3 PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

Personality development is a natural as well as a perceptual process. Children

learn from the parents. Personality includes physiological and psychological
components. Hereditary characteristics, family and social environments influence
personality development. There are different theories of personality development,
which we will discuss later on in the section. Personality development is a continuous
process where personal qualities are interactively developed in different situations.
Although personality traits are basically consistent, modification of traits takes
place from situation to situation. The socialisation process helps in the development
of personality.
Heredity, as an endowment, influences behaviour and personality
development through body characteristics, gene transmission, functioning of
circulatory, muscular and nervous systems, and so on. Intelligence, industriousness,
daring attitude and other human qualities are generally related to gene transmission.
A tall and handsome body is a result of heredity. The family environment helps in
development of personality. The education and behaviour of parents, sisters and
brothers have a great impact on one’s personality development. Similarly, personality
characteristics are developed through the self-learning and socialisation process.
The values, superstitions and attitudes of parents are observed in the children who
modify them through social learning, associated groups, i.e. friends, relatives,
classmates, colleagues and other acquainted persons.
Family and social cultures have a great impact on personality development.
Persons living in a social setup acquire the characteristics of the group. A child of
a bureaucrat imbibes the characteristics of bureaucratic environment and develops
its characteristics likewise. Socialisation inspires complex behaviour in persons. It
stimulates, organises, influences behaviour, and consequently promotes personality
development. Fred Luthans has emphasised the socialisation process as SOBC—
stimuli, organisms, behaviour and consequences. People learn from the social system

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to change and develop attitudes, adjustment of work habits, mutual trust and Overview of Personality

confidence and physiological as well as psychological development. Situational

factors help in the development of understanding, directing and controlling abilities.
Personality Measurement NOTES
The objective of personality study is to guide employees towards proper behaviour
in an organisation. Different employees have varied characteristics. A particular
type of personality is needed for a particular job performance. It is therefore essential
to measure personality characteristics for the proper placement of an employee in
a suitable job as per his personality features. The measurement of personality is
done by dividing the variable into two, namely the dependent variables and
independent variables. The dependant variables are behaviour and performance,
whereas the independent variables are personality characteristics. With the help of
parametric devices, we can measure how and by how much personality
characteristics can influence the behaviour and performance. Tests of significance,
reliability and validity of personality characteristics are possible through the use of
statistical tools and techniques. Chi-square (X2) test, z test, t test and other analytical
tools are used to measure the impact of the personality on behaviour, performance
and achievement. Likert test, seven point variables and other methods are commonly
used for measuring the impact of personality characteristics. Many authors have
developed useful techniques of personality measurement. For example, Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the California Personality Inventory
(CPI) are developed to measure personality and the suitability of a particular
personality to a job. Projective tests, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and
other measures are used for personality measurement. Observation of personality
also reveals essential features. One can closely watch the behaviour of employees
and the impact of personality on performance. Group behaviour, role of employees,
interpersonal skills and physical and psychological characteristics are important
segments to understand the role of personality in performance and achievement.
Questionnaires, personal interviews and observations are used for assessing the
personality features of employees. It helps in designing the job content and job
context for performance satisfaction and an achievement situation. Satisfied
employees perform better, and corporate objectives are achieved easily. The
purpose of personality measurement is to develop and modify people’s personalities
for better performance and goal achievement.
3.3.1 Theories of Personality
Since personality variables reflect consistent and enduring patterns of behaviour,
these patterns can be classified into certain categories, so that the behaviour can
be predictable once we identify the pattern of behaviour as belonging to a given
category. People in a given category would have a similar pattern of attributes,
and personality theories tend to identify such attributes in order to group people
into these various categories.
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Overview of Personality 1. Psychoanalytical Theory
The Psychoanalytical theory of personality as a reflection of behaviour has been
based primarily on the Freudian concept of unconscious nature of personality.
Freud noted that his patient’s behaviour could not always be consciously explained.
NOTES
This led him to believe that the personality structure is primarily founded on
unconscious framework and that human behaviour and motivation is the outcome
of such conflicting psychoanalytic concepts as the id, the ego and the super ego.
Id is the foundation of the unconscious and is the base of libido drives. It strives
for sexual pleasure and other biological pleasures and has animalistic instincts of
aggression, power and domination. Ego is conscious in nature and is a mechanism
to relate our conscious urges to the outside real world. It keeps the id in check
through the realities of the external environment. While id demands immediate
pleasure, whatever the cost, ego controls it so that these pleasures are granted at
an appropriate time and in an acceptable manner. Because of difficulty of keeping
the id under control, ego is supported by super ego. The super ego is the higher-
level restraining force and can be described as the conscience of the person. The
conscience creates standards of what is wrong and what is right and is generally
subconsciously developed by the absorption of cultural and ethical values of the
social environment. All these three Freudian elements are inter-related and each
cannot exist in isolation from others. In order to create a ‘normal’ personality,
there must be a balance in the relationship among these three forces.
2. Trait Theory
Trait theory visualizes personality as a reflection of certain traits of the individual.
Even though there are many traits that are common to most people, there are
many other traits that are unique to a person and are not shared by other individuals.
On the basis of the traits theory, people can be described as aggressive, loyal,
pleasant, flexible, humorous, sentimental, impulsive, cool and so on. Traits are the
basic elements of personality and can be used to summarize behaviour. For example,
if we see people behaving in an extrovert and forceful manner in most situations,
we could label their personality as aggressive. Similarly, if a person is observed in
different situations as letting someone else take the initiative in deciding what to
do, we could describe his personality as ‘submissive’.
3. Self-Concept Theory
This theory is organized around the concept that personality and behaviour are
largely determined by the individual himself. We tend to act in ways that are consistent
with our own image of who we are. For example, a man known as a flirt would
hardly stop at flirting. Carl Rogers is most closely associated with this theory.
According to him, behaviour can be best understood by the internal frame of
reference that an individual has for his own self. An individual himself is the centre
of experience. His self-image is integral to how he views himself and his perception
of how others view him.

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4. Social Learning Theory Overview of Personality

The social learning theory differs from the psychoanalytical theory in two ways.
Firstly, personality development has been believed to be a result of the social
variables rather than of the biological drives. Secondly, motives can be traced to
NOTES
known and conscious needs and wants rather than unconscious and latent desires.
According to the learning theory, personality may be defined as the cumulative
total of all the learning of a person.
‘Reinforcement and punishment’ approach has been used to understand
personality according to the social learning theory. For example, one may be
frustrated because of the external environment and this can actually bring forward
aggression as one of his personality traits. Similarly, an individual’s good behaviour
may be rewarded by the society in terms of appreciation and this further helps in
reinforcement of the good behaviour. Thus, it can be understood that there is a
mutual interaction that exists between external environment and behaviour.

Check Your Progress

3. What is personality development?
4. What is the trait theory of personality?

3.4 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

QUESTIONS

1. When an individual blindly accepts authority, it is referred as authoritarianism.

2. Self-esteem may be defined as the level of respect that one may have for
himself. It may be defined as the measure of one’s own confidence level.
3. Personality development is a continuous process where personal qualities
are interactively developed in different situations. Although personality traits
are basically consistent, modification of traits takes place from situation to
situation. The socialisation process helps in the development of personality.
4. Trait theory visualizes personality as a reflection of certain traits of the
individual. Even though there are many traits that are common to most people,
there are many other traits that are unique to a person and are not shared by
other individuals.

3.5 SUMMARY

 The concept of personality is often discussed in our daily routine and while
coming across different people, one may associate different individuals with
different personalities. For example, one particular individual may be having
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Overview of Personality a pleasing personality while another one may be having an arrogant
personality.
 There are two broad categories of factors that influence the formation and
development of personality. These are heredity factors and environmental
NOTES
factors.
 Personality is a set of relatively stable characteristics or dimensions of people
that account for consistency in their behaviour in various situations.
 Introvert personalities are generally shy in nature and they prefer to be
alone. They do not freely communicate with others and may feel hesitant
while communicating with others. The extrovert personalities are however
different from the introverts and they are most of the times outspoken and
outgoing in their behaviour.
 Since personality variables reflect consistent and enduring patterns of
behaviour, these patterns can be classified into certain categories, so that
the behaviour can be predictable once we identify the pattern of behaviour
as belonging to a given category.
 Personality development is a natural as well as a perceptual process. Children
learn from the parents. Personality includes physiological and psychological
components.
 Hereditary characteristics, family and social environments influence
personality development.
 Family and social cultures have a great impact on personality development.
Persons living in a social setup acquire the characteristics of the group.
 The objective of personality study is to guide employees towards proper
behaviour in an organisation. Different employees have varied characteristics.
A particular type of personality is needed for a particular job performance.
It is therefore essential to measure personality characteristics for the proper
placement of an employee in a suitable job as per his personality features.
 There are four major personality theories: psychoanalytical theory, trait
theory, self-concept theory and social learning theory.
 Trait theory visualizes personality as a reflection of certain traits of the
individual. Even though there are many traits that are common to most people,
there are many other traits that are unique to a person and are not shared
by other individuals.
 The social learning theory differs from the psychoanalytical theory in two
ways. Firstly, personality development has been believed to be a result of
the social variables rather than of the biological drives. Secondly, motives
can be traced to known and conscious needs and wants rather than
unconscious and latent desires.

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 Overview of Personality
3.6 KEY WORDS

 Dogmatism: It refers to the expression of rigidity in one’s beliefs.

 Introvert: It refers to someone who is shy, quiet, and prefers to spend time NOTES
alone rather than often being with other people.
 Super Ego: It refers to the part of a person’s mind that acts as a self-
critical conscience, reflecting social standards learned from parents and
teachers.

3.7 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND

EXERCISES

Short-Answer Questions
1. What are the determinants of personality?
2. What is the difference between introvert personality and extrovert
personality?
3. Write a short-note on personality development.
Long-Answer Questions
1. How is personality measured? Analyse.
2. Discuss the various theories of personality.

3.8 FURTHER READINGS

Mishra, M.N. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Noida: Vikas Publishing House.

Robbins, Stephen P. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Davis, Keith. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Singh, Kavita. 2015. Organizational Behaviour: Text and Cases, 3rd Edition.
Noida: Vikas Publishing House.
Gordon, Judith R. 2001. Organizational Behavior: A Diagnostic. New Delhi:
Prentice Hall.
Aswathappa, K. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd.

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Perception

UNIT 4 PERCEPTION
NOTES Structure
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Objectives
4.2 Perception: Definition, Process and Sensation
4.3 Determinants of Perception
4.4 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
4.5 Summary
4.6 Key Words
4.7 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
4.8 Further Readings

4.0 INTRODUCTION

In the previous unit, you learnt about the concept and theories of personality. In
this unit, we will discuss perception. By perception, we mean the organization,
identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and
understand the presented information, or the environment. There are essentially
four stages in the perception process, that is, receiving, selecting, organizing and
interpreting. In organizational behaviour, perception is important because it is vital
for employees to understand the tasks that need to be performed, what is
acceptable behaviour while completing those tasks, as well as to clarify their roles
within an organization.

4.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 Define perception
 Explain the process of perception
 Discuss the determinants of perception

4.2 PERCEPTION: DEFINITION, PROCESS AND

SENSATION

The psychological processes that allow an individual to adjust his behaviour is

called perception. The behaviour of an individual is influenced by his personality,
motives and efforts. The behaviour and performance provides satisfaction to the
employee who gets stimulated to work more and develop his personality and
work quality.
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 Behaviour is a victim of the environment, which is observed in the form of Perception

stimuli. The sensory organs perceive the stimuli as per their learning and personality.
The reverse functions are also correct. Perception, if modified through adequate
and qualitative stimuli, helps to develop learning and personality. Improved behaviour
has better performance and rewards which provide more satisfaction to the NOTES
employees. A satisfied employee tries to learn and work effectively. An organization
grows with the developed employees. Perception is therefore an important and
initial step for developing an organizational behaviour. It is a cognitive process
which selects, organises and interprets the stimuli. It paves the base for behaviour.
Although perception may not be a real-world presentation, it is an imaginary
understanding of the situation. The behaviour of an individual is guided by
perception. People perceive differently as per their learning and personality. The
perceptual world of a manager is different from the perceptual world of employees.
Social factors also influence the perception process. Employees coming from a
poor family have different perceptions of an organization from those coming from
rich families. The levels of education, family background and political situation
have a direct impact on the perception level.
Definition
Perception may be defined as ‘a cognitive process by which people attend to
incoming stimuli, organise and interpret such stimuli into behaviour.’ Perception
can also be defined as ‘a process by which individuals organise and interpret their
sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.’
The environment is a stimulus to influence behaviour, because the stimuli are
attended, organised and interpreted to arrive at certain forms of behaviour. The
sensory organs, i.e. eyes, nose, ears, skin and tongue, are used to change the
stimuli into behaviour through their attention, recognition and interpretation
processes. The information or stimuli are not accepted by individuals unless they
are evaluated and interpreted by the mental processing system. Individuals attend
to the stimuli, recognise and translate them into meaningful information, which inspire
them to act and perform the job. These processes are known as perpetual process.
When employees get satisfaction through their performance, either by meeting
their physical or mental needs, they perceive the organization in the right perspective.
It helps them understand the functions and achieve satisfaction.
Components of Perception
Perception is a process of sensory organs. The mind gets information through the
five sense organs, viz. the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. The stimulation coming
to these organs may be through action, written messages, oral communication,
odour, taste, touch of the product and people. The perception starts with the
awareness of these stimuli. Recognising these stimuli takes place only after paying
attention to them. These messages are then translated into action and behaviour.

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Perception Stimuli: The receipt of information is the stimulus which results in sensation.
Knowledge and behaviour depend on senses and their stimulation. The physical
senses used by people are vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Intuitions and
hunches are known as the sixth sense. These senses are influenced by a larger
NOTES number of stimuli which may be action, information, consideration and feelings,
etc. The stimuli may be in the form of objects or physical commodities. The human
body itself is developed through the acceptance of the stimuli. The mind and soul
are the victims of these stimuli occurring in the surroundings of the people. The
family, social and the economic environment are important stimuli for the people.
The physiological and psychological functions are the result of these stimuli. The
intensive and extensive forms of stimuli have a greater impact on the sensory organs.
The physical work environment, socio-cultural environment and other factors have
certain stimuli to influence the employee’s perception. Perception begins only when
people confront stimuli; that is, stimulating factors give information about the situation.
Attention: Stimuli are selectively attended to by people. Some of the stimuli
are reacted to while others are ignored without being paid any attention. The
stimuli that are paid attention depend purely on the people’s selection capacity
and the intensity of stimuli. Educated employees pay more attention to any stimuli,
viz. announcement of bonus, appeal for increasing productivity, training and
motivation. The management has to find out suitable stimuli which can appeal to
the employees at the maximum level. If the attention of the employees is not drawn,
the organization cannot expect proper behaviour from the employees. An
organization should be aware of all those factors which affect the attention of the
employees. During the attention process, sensory and neural mechanisms are
affected and the message receiver becomes involved in understanding the stimuli.
Taking employees to the attention stage is essential in an organization for making
them behave in a systematic and required order.
Recognition: After paying attention to the stimuli, the employees try to
recognise whether the stimuli are worth realising. The messages or incoming stimuli
are recognised before they are transmitted into behaviour. Perception is a two-
phase activity, i.e. receiving stimuli and translating the stimuli into action. However,
before the stage of translation, the stimuli must be recognised by the individual.
The recognition process is dependent on mental acceptability. For example, if a
car driver suddenly sees a child in front of his running car, he stops the car. He
recognises the stimuli, i.e. the life of the child is in danger. His mental process
recognises the danger after paying attention to the stimuli. If he does not pay
attention to the stimuli, he cannot recognise the danger. After recognising the stimuli,
he translates the message into behaviour.
Translation: The stimuli are evaluated before being converted into action
or behaviour. The evaluation process is translation. In the above example, the car
driver after recognising the stimuli uses the clutch and brake to stop the car. He
has immediately translated the stimulus into an appropriate action. The perception
process is purely mental before it is converted into action. The conversion is
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translation. The management in an organization has to consider the various processes Perception

of translating the message into action. The employees should be assisted to translate
the stimuli into action. For example, the announcement of bonus should be
recognised as a stimulus for increasing production. The employee should translate
it into appropriate behaviour. In other words, they should be motivated by the NOTES
management to increase productivity. During the translation period, psychological
mechanism commonly known as sensory and mental organs are affected. They
influence perception. The incoming stimuli are interpreted and perception is
developed.
Behaviour: Behaviour is the outcome of the cognitive process. It is a
response to change in sensory inputs, i.e. stimuli. It is an overt and covert response.
Perceptual behaviour is not influenced by reality, but is a result of the perception
process of the individual, his learning and personality, environmental factors and
other internal and external factors at the workplace. The psychological feedback
that may influence the perception of an employee may be superior behaviour, his
eye movement, raising of an eyebrow, the tone of voice, etc. The behaviour of
employees depend on perception which is visible in the form of action, reaction or
other behaviour. The behavioural termination of perception may be overt or covert.
The overt behaviour of perception is witnessed in the form of physical activities of
the employees and covert behaviour is observed in the form of mental evaluation
and self-esteem. The perception behaviour is the result of the cognitive process of
the stimulus which may be a message or an action situation of management function.
Perception is reflected in behaviour which is visible in different forms of employees’
action and motivation.
Performance: Proper behaviour leads to higher performance. High
performers become a source of stimuli and motivation to other employees. A
performance–reward relationship is established to motivate people.
Satisfaction: High performance gives more satisfaction. The level of
satisfaction is calculated with the difference in performance and expectation. If the
performance is more than the expectation, people are delighted, but when
performance is equal to expectation, it results in satisfaction. On the other hand, if
performance is less than the expectation, people become frustrated and this requires
a more appealing form of stimulus for developing proper employee work behaviour
and high performance. It is essential to understand the factors that influence the
perception process and mould employees’ behaviour towards the corporate
objectives and self-satisfaction.
Several stimuli are observed everyday by individuals. They confront these
stimuli, notice and register them in their minds, interpret them and behave according
to their background and understanding. Employees confronted with stimuli select
only a few stimuli of their choice and leave other stimuli unattended and unrecognised.
Factors influencing the selective process may be external as well as internal,
organizational structures, social systems and characteristics of the perceiver.
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Perception Sensation
As you learnt, the receipt of information is the stimulus which results in sensation.
Sensation is thus the process that allows the brains to take in information via the
NOTES five senses, which can then be experienced and interpreted by the brain. Sensation
occurs thanks to our five sensory systems: vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch.
Each of these systems maintains unique neural pathways with the brain which
allows them to transfer information from the environment to the brain very rapidly.

Check Your Progress

1. State the outcome of the cognitive process.
2. Define sensation.

4.3 DETERMINANTS OF PERCEPTION

No doubt stimuli do play a significant role in the perception process as various

factors relating to the perception process have been noticed by behavioural experts.
The factors influencing perceptions are the perceiver’s characteristics, object and
situations. However, they can be analysed under specific heads such as the
perceiver’s characteristics, personal factors, internal factors, organizational
structures and social conditions.
Perceiver’s Characteristics
Perception depends on how an individual views the objects and situations. Some
employees may perceive the workplace as incorporating favourable working
conditions, while others may perceive it as a place of good pay. The perception is
not actual reality, but it is the viewing of the reality which differs from person to
person according to their respective characteristics. Perceptions of the object are
influenced not only by individual’s characteristics but also by the characteristics of
other employees, the manager’s personality and employee’s views from their
perception of the workplace. The characteristics of employees, viz. attitude,
motives, interests, habits, experience, expectations, learning and personality, have
a greater influence on perception formation.
Attitude: The attitude and aptitude of employees influence perception
formation. If they have positive attitudes towards the management, they directly
perceive the stimuli given by management. In case of negative attitudes, the
employees suspect the management’s approach. Employees of high aptitude have
a desire and attitude for growth. They behave positively towards the management
of an organization.
Motives: The motives and desires of employees cause them to view stimuli
differently as per their level and angle. Helpful motives of the employees will always
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they will perceive objects and situations positively. Employees having low motives Perception

will not work sincerely. The perception will differ depending on different types of
motives. An indecisive manager perceives his supervisors differently. Personal
insecurity of a manager results in doubtful perception about his supervisors,
irrespective of their intentions. People who are dubious are prone to see others as NOTES
dubious persons. Motives are reflected in actions based on perception.
Interest: The interest of individuals draws more attention and recognition
to stimuli. Less attention and recognition lowers the impact of stimuli or objects on
behaviour. If employees lack interest, behaviour pattern will be less effective, and
the perception will be weak. Managers cannot influence the employees in their
work culture. Since individual interests vary from person to person, the perception
is also different. However, the management tries to create interest among the
employees to have higher perception of the organization.
Habits: Habits die hard and therefore individuals perceive objects, situations
and conditions differently according to their habits. Many employees learn quickly.
Others are slow in perceiving a stimulus. Some employees are not bothered about
the management. They do not perceive the object correctly. Some people work
by smoking or chewing pan. Thus, the habits of people have different perception
levels.
Experience: The experience of employees results in different levels of
perception. A young employee takes time to understand the object and situation.
Experienced employees generally understand objects quickly and correctly.
However, in contradictory situations, it is difficult to correct aged persons, whereas
the young are easily moulded towards achieving the objectives of the organization.
Expectation: Expectations distort perceptions. People see what they expect
to see. If they see the object and the situation differently from their expectations,
they get frustrated. They are unable to modify their behaviour. The employees
may expect more pay and so they perceive the management from that angle. The
real stimuli are not properly perceived if expectations exist there on. The
management has to evolve expectations for proper perception.
Learning: Learning levels of employees have a great impact on their
perceptions. It is an important factor influencing perception formation. Educated
persons have higher perceptions than the less educated persons. Attitudes are
developed according to the learning levels.
Personality: Personality has different levels of perception. The personality
of a perceiving person considerably affects the stimuli transformation behaviour
process. Young people perceive objects and situations in the original form.
Experienced persons perceive the objects as per their personality levels. Perception
influences learning which is a developing factor of personality. The personality has
a wider impact on the perception process too. Persons can view objects and
situations as per their personality levels. The age, sex, motivation, learning levels,
etc. influence perception.
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Perception External Factors
The perception process is influenced by external factors which may be objects
and situations. The external points related to objects and situations have great
NOTES influence on the perception process. The external factors may be the size, interest,
contrast, repetition, motion, familiarity, novelty and others.
Size: The size of the object or stimulus has a greater impact on the perception
process because the size influences attention and recognition in a more effective
manner. Employees are greatly influenced by tall and well-built managers as
compared to the normal-sized individuals. The engineering department pays more
attention to big and attractive machines. Big-sized objects have a natural attraction
and get more attention.
Intensity: Researchers on human behaviour have revealed that the more
intense the stimuli, the higher the attention and recognition in the perception process.
A strong- voiced manager has more impact on supervisors and employees. It is
observed that managers use voice modulation to get the attention of employees.
Bright letters and strong appeal have more impact on people than normal letters
and low appeal. More attention results in a higher recognition and behaviour pattern.
The intensity varies as per the needs of the organization. The same type of intensity
may not be useful for all the situations and objects.
Contrast: Contrasting objects have more impact on behaviour. Employees
pay more attention and recognition to contrasting objects and situations. Machines
making noises are hardly noticed, but a machine coming to a halt is immediately
noticed because of contrast stimuli. Normal communication and performance have
less impact than abnormal and contrast communication. The purpose of contrast
stimuli is to attract more attention and recognition. However, if the contrast is not
helpful in drawing more attention, it should be avoided and more attention-drawing
stimuli should be exercised for gaining a real perception of work behaviour.
Repetition: Repeated stimuli have more impact on performances than a
single statement. Repetition has the advantage of being attention-catching. When
stimuli are waning, repetition generates fresh attention and recognition. Supervisors
repeat orders several times to have them followed by employees.
Motion: People pay more attention to the moving objects than to stationary
objects. This is just the impact of eyes on the mind. Workers are more attentive
towards working machines than stationary machines. The video films of some
training programmes create more of an impact on employees than others.
Familiarity: Employees would like to hear and see those programmes
with which they are familiar. Training programmes demonstrated in the language of
the employees are highly attended and recognised. Examples which are known
and easily understood are used for motivating employees.
Novelty: Novel actions get more attention. New ideas and model preaching
will draw the attention of the perceiver. Changing jobs reduce monotony. Novel
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 Situations: Situations have a great influence on people’s perceptions. A Perception

favourable work environment develops a positive attitude and work culture because
the perception process is easily channelized and rightly directed. The management
style and functioning of the organization influences the employee’s mental state
through attention and recognition. Work relations also have some impact on NOTES
perception forces.
Objects: Objects are external factors influencing the perceiver because he
has no control over them. The physical and internal attributes of objects are
influencing factors of perception. The physical and time proximity, complex nature
of objects, presentation of messages and the territorial approach of the management
have great impact on the perception.
Internal Factors
Internal factors are within the personal control of the perceivers. They use these
factors when they so desire. They are based on the individual’s psychological
setup, economic and social background, learning, personality and motivation.
Psychological setup: Factors such as attitude, interest, preferences, likings
and other psychological bent of mind distort the perception process. People perceive
what they like to perceive because of their attitudinal and mental approaches.
These factors are the outcome of not only the self factors of the individuals but
their actions and interaction with other people. People working with employees
help in the foundation of the psychological setup. One person’s problem may be
another person’s satisfaction. For example, giving a higher bonus is a state of
satisfaction to employees, but becomes a problem for managers.
Economic and social background: The employee perceptions are based
on economic and social backgrounds. The employee’s level of understanding
depends upon their economic and social backgrounds. Socially and economically
developed employees have a more positive attitude towards development rather
than less developed employees. However, developed employees are prone to
decision-oriented functions. Conflicts between managers and employees will
increase in this case. The problems can be resolved only through proper perception
processes.
Learning: The state of learning influences the perception process. Highly
educated persons can easily and rightly perceive the management’s problem. They
cooperate in problem solution. On the contrary, less educated employees are less
concerned about the management. They perceive the management as a separate
and superior part of the organization, who tend to exploit the labour, irrespective
of the reality. People perceive as per their levels of learning. It is therefore essential
for the organization to make its employees knowledgeable and educated for their
effective performance and behaviour. The learning of managers and workers is a
twin requirement.
Personality: The personality of the perceiver as well as the stimulator have
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Perception and body postures of both the persons have a direct influence on the perception
process. If the perceiver is female and the stimulator is male, the perceiver gets
some influences only if she prefers males. Otherwise, the perception process will
be distorted. The ethnic personalities have some influence on perception. Physical
NOTES and mental characteristics, work pattern and age similarities affect the perception
process.
Motivation: The pattern of motivation in an organization helps to develop
perception building. Motivated people have the right perceptions about the stimuli,
whereas the loco-profiled workers are doubtful about the message given by the
management for the development. The approach of the female managers to
problems is given more attention and recognition. Motivational theories have
revealed the perception processes of particular categories of employees. Attention
is drawn towards their needs, satisfaction and achievement desires. The mental
state of motivational desire influences the perception process.
Stimuli based on external factors receives varied degrees of attention and
recognition. Internal factors, i.e. factors related to employees and managers, have
different degrees of impact on the attention and recognition process while being
translated into behaviour which results in performance.
Organizational Structure
The perceptual process is influenced by the organizational structure and process.
The perceptual structure, perceptual grouping, constancy, context, defence,
workplace and process have been recognised as important factors influencing the
perceptual process.
Perceptual structure: The organizational structure influences the perception
of employees and other people related to the organization. The departmentalisation,
decentralisation, delegation of authority and other structural frameworks have
important bearings in the mind of employees. An adequate amount of decentralisation
makes employees feel that the organization is welfare-oriented. Similarly, too much
centralisation gives rise to the feeling of suspicion in the minds of employees.
Structure itself becomes a flowchart of perception. Work relations and the decision-
making authority provide an important understanding of organizational perception.
If the structure is viewed positively by the employees, they willingly contribute to
the development of the organization.
Perceptual grouping: The manager generally groups all the stimuli together
to influence the employees. The grouping is done based on closure, continuity,
similarity and proximity. The closure doctrine of grouping is based on the Gestalt
Principle of psychology wherein the individuals perceive the whole object although
the whole unit does not exist. For example, the manager perceives that all the
members cooperate with him in achieving computerisation, whereas some members
really oppose mechanisation. The manager tries to close the disagreement and
maintains uniformity in agreement for mechanisation. On the other hand, if the
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members do not withdraw their disagreement, they observe their individual Perception

perceptions.
The continuity principle emphasises that the stimuli should continue to make
an impact on the perceiver. Discreet stimuli may however distort the perception
NOTES
process. The continuity principle is different from the closure principle as missing
stimuli are applied in the latter case, whereas a continuous link is maintained in the
former case. It is observed that only continuous and related stimuli are easily
attended and recognised. The obvious and continuous flow of stimuli may produce
the desired behaviour.
The similarity principle assumes that similar stimuli are easily attended,
recognised and perceived. The similarity has its own impact on the employees.
For example, employees wearing special clothes at the workplace automatically
carry the message of the organization. Similarity in age, sex, education and other
characteristics have a direct impact on the employee’s perception.
The proximity principle refers to the grouping of the segments into one unit.
Nearness of stimuli will be perceived as wholesome for the group. All the stimuli
are considered one because of physical proximity. For example, all the employees
in one cadre will be considered as one group which is stimulated by the proximity
of stimuli. Departmental employees are considered as a single group employees
because of proximity. They are motivated on the basis of proximity stimuli.
Perceptual constancy: Perceptual constancy plays an important role in
the perception process. The stability and unchangeability of objects help in the
constant perception process of people. The constancy of stimuli helps in easy
perception because people become accustomed to the stimuli. The size, shape,
place and colour of objects and situation are easily observed if they are constant.
Constant stimuli make the perception process easy and effective.
Perceptual context: The context of the stimuli with reference to objects
and situations has a meaningful impact on the perceiver. If the perceiver has the
confidence that the stimuli are relevant to their work and awards, they may pay
more attention to the perception process, policies and objectives relevant to
employees. Welfare is paid more attention. Verbal communication in the relevant
context is given more perceptual consideration.
Perceptual defence: The defensive role of the management is well
recognised by the employees. There are many areas where employees develop
conflicts which are resolved by the management. Such functions which provide
defence to conflicting views are given more importance by employees. People like
to defend their professions, work and work relations, if they are satisfied. On the
contrary, dissatisfied workers criticise their own work and workplace. Many
workers perceive conflicts as not being very serious. They only perceive conflicts
as casual and to be expected, without any significant features. Some employees
however find conflicts alarming. They react to warning signs and perceive the

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Perception situation differently. Managers can find different perceptions for their actions
because they view the situation from the angle of defence.
Perceptual workplace: The perceptual process is affected by the
workplace too. The climate temperature, noise, smoke and other factors have a
NOTES
direct bearing on the perception and psychological traits of employees.
Consequently, the perceptual process is different for different employees. Some
employees develop a positive perception while others develop a negative
perception of the workplace. All employees perceive the same situation and object
differently because of the varied nature of their workplace.
Perceptual process: The relationship between employees and managers
is crucial in the perceptual process. Employees may perceive a low output with
pleasure to influence their supervisor. The management has a different perception
of performance and evaluation. Some may perceive a self-fulfilling prophecy by
the management, when they have too high or too low expectation from employees.
High expectation inspires managers to motivate their employees positively.
Managers develop subjective attitudes many times about the performance and
process. Besides, the employees’ efforts are also considered for performance
and process valuation. During the work process, some employees are
troublemakers and some are loyal. The perceptual process is an important factor
for the perception process of management and employees.
Social Factors
Social conditions have much influence on the perception process. Perceivers and
the perceived objects have complex characteristics. They are perceived differently
in different situations. The attributes of objects are important considerations
influencing the selectivity process of perception. Attributes of objects, the subject,
the situations and the perceiver have become so important that a separate theory
known as attribution theory has been developed under the perception theory.
Social factors consider how one person behaves towards the other person and
how other people behave towards him. The interaction between the manager and
his subordinates is considered under social factors which include the stereotyping
effect, the halo effect, contrast effect and projection.
Making Judgements about Others or Stereotyping
The perception process takes the shortest method in some cases and considers only
routine effects. Stereotype judgement is based on an ideal situation or the type of
impression formed about the group. It is the consideration of individual’s characteristics
as being representative of the whole group. If an employee is found well behaved,
the whole group of employees is considered to be good. If, in an organization, a
manager is helpful, it is generalised that the organization is very helpful and sympathetic
towards employees. It is an inductive method wherein conclusions are aggregated
from individual performance; that is, it accumulates particular cases to arrive at general
conclusions. Stereotyping is generalisation which has the advantages of being time
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saving, accurate and common. For example, assume that the management has Perception

previously found that sportsmen and athletes have been very successful workers in
the factory. They were ambitious, hardworking and can easily overcome adverse
situations. In future selection process, the management may appoint such sportsmen
and athletes without undergoing many selection procedures. Similarly, many decisions NOTES
are taken on the basis of the stereotyping effect. The generalisation may prove
disastrous if it is relied on heavily without proper scrutiny and examination of individual
characteristics. The most important stereotyping effects are observed in the form of
age, sex, nationality and social status.
The stereotyping effects under social perception consider the attributes, traits
and other qualities of a member of a social organization. These qualities are generalised
as the qualities of the social organization or group. However, there may be perceptual
errors, because the generalised attributes and qualities may not be found in all the
cases. Therefore, the perception process takes into consideration the amount of
perceptual errors when deriving conclusions based on stereotyping effects.
Favourable and unfavourable traits are always calculated and evaluated to find their
impact on the behaviour or decision taken. Stereotyping has become an important
factor of social perception, which is based on ethnic groups—socio-economic groups,
demographic groups and so on. The individual difference in the group is recorded to
evaluate the perceptual errors in arriving at stereotyping effects.
The belief factor in stereotyping effects has become an important tool to
arrive at certain decisions. One can conclude that an organization has a democratic
manager. The common characteristics are the basis of belief. If a manager belongs
to the said democratic organization, one can believe that he will also have the
same characteristics. The errors may be there in belief because of ignoring variations
in characteristics and holding mistaken beliefs. The beliefs or stereotyping effects
are modified from time to time to arrive at correct perception behaviour and
decisions.

Check Your Progress

3. How does attitude affect perception of employees in an organization?
4. What does the continuity principles emphasize?

4.4 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

QUESTIONS

1. Behaviour is the outcome of the cognitive process. It is a response to change

in sensory inputs, i.e. stimuli. It is an overt and covert response.
2. Sensation is the process that allows the brains to take in information via the
five senses, which can then be experienced and interpreted by the brain.
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Perception 3. The attitude and aptitude of employees influence perception formation. If
they have positive attitudes towards the management, they directly perceive
the stimuli given by management. In case of negative attitudes, the employees
suspect the management’s approach.
NOTES
4. The continuity principle emphasises that the stimuli should continue to make
an impact on the perceiver. Discreet stimuli may however distort the
perception process.

4.5 SUMMARY

 The psychological processes that allow an individual to adjust his behaviour

is called perception.
 Perception may be defined as ‘a cognitive process by which people attend
to incoming stimuli, organise and interpret such stimuli into behaviour.’
 Perception is a process of sensory organs. The mind gets information through
the five sense organs, viz. the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin.
 The stimulation coming to these organs may be through action, written
messages, oral communication, odour, taste, touch of the product and people.
 Sensation occurs thanks to our five sensory systems: vision, hearing, taste,
smell and touch.
 The factors influencing perceptions are the perceiver’s characteristics, object
and situations. However, they can be analysed under specific heads such as
the perceiver’s characteristics, personal factors, internal factors,
organizational structures and social conditions.
 The perceptual process is influenced by the organisational structure and
process. The perceptual structure, perceptual grouping, constancy, context,
defence, workplace and process have been recognised as important factors
influencing the perceptual process.
 The perception process takes the shortest method in some cases and
considers only routine effects. Stereotype judgement is based on an ideal
situation or the type of impression formed about the group.
 The stereotyping effects under social perception consider the attributes,
traits and other qualities of a member of a social organization. These qualities
are generalised as the qualities of the social organization or group.

4.6 KEY WORDS

 Perception: It is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory

information in order to represent and understand the presented information,
or the environment.
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  Attitude: It is a feeling or opinion about something or someone, or a way Perception

of behaving that is caused by this.

 Stimuli: It is a thing or event that evokes a specific functional reaction in an
organ or tissue.
NOTES
 Stereotyping: It is a set idea that people have about what someone or
something is like, especially an idea that is wrong.

4.7 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND

EXERCISES

Short-Answer Questions
1. What is stereotyping effect?
2. What are the different components of perception?
3. Write a short-note on sensation.
Long-Answer Questions
1. Describe the different factors that influence perception.
2. Perception depends on how an individual views the objects and situations.
Discuss.
3. Explain how the perceptual process is influenced by the organizational
structure and process.

4.8 FURTHER READINGS

Mishra, M.N. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Noida: Vikas Publishing House.

Robbins, Stephen P. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Davis, Keith. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Singh, Kavita. 2015. Organizational Behaviour: Text and Cases, 3rd Edition.
Noida: Vikas Publishing House.
Gordon, Judith R. 2001. Organizational Behavior: A Diagnostic. New Delhi:
Prentice Hall.
Aswathappa, K. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd.

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Attitudes and Values

UNIT 5 ATTITUDES AND VALUES

NOTES Structure
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Objectives
5.2 Meaning, Nature and Characteristics of Attitude
5.2.1 Attitude Measurement
5.3 Values and Attitude
5.4 Values: Meaning, Nature and Characteristics
5.5 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
5.6 Summary
5.7 Key Words
5.8 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
5.9 Further Readings

5.0 INTRODUCTION

In the previous unit, we discussed various concepts related to perception. Now

we will turn to attitude and values. To put it simply, attitude may be defined as a
tendency to react positively or negatively in regard to an object. On the other
hand, value is defined as a concept of the desirable, an internalised criterion or
standard of evaluation a person possesses. In the process of understanding
individual behaviour within an organization, value and attitude are vital concepts.

5.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 Discuss the meaning and nature of attitude
 Describe the functions of attitude
 Explain the meaning and characteristics values

5.2 MEANING, NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS

OF ATTITUDE

If you ask someone ‘how are you?’ his response would depend upon his attitude
towards life. If his attitude towards life is positive, he will say he feels very good
and thank God for what he has. If his attitude towards life is negative, he will start
complaining about everything that is wrong with the world. Similarly, if you ask
someone about his job, you will find him to be very opinionated. He might say he
likes his job very much or he might complain about the job bitterly. This would be

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a function of his attitude towards his job. Attitude is a collection of the type of Attitudes and Values

personality, feelings towards the outside world, confidence within self and more.
Characteristics and Components of Attitude
Attitudes have four basic characteristics—direction, intensity, salience and NOTES
differentiation. The direction of an attitude is favourable, unfavourable or neutral.
We may like, dislike or be neutral in our views about a person, a job or a situation.
The intensity of the attitude refers to the strength of the effective component. For
example, we may dislike a person but the extent of our disliking would determine
the intensity of our attitude towards him. Such dislike may range from weak to
strong. In general, the more intense the attitude the more persistent will be such
behaviour. Salience refers to the perceived importance of the attitude. Some people
may not like to work with computers as they may not perceive it to be as important
as a student in computer information systems for whom the knowledge of computers
is mandatory for a career. Finally, attitudes can be high or low in differentiation
depending upon how strong the supporting beliefs and values of the person are.
Components of Attitude
The attitudes, irrespective of what they are, generally consist of three major
components. These are:
1. Evaluative Component. The evaluative component of attitude is a function
of how we feel about something. It refers to our liking or disliking for a
particular person, any particular event or any particular situation. Such person,
event or situation becomes the focus of our attitude and is known as attitude
object. For example, you may feel positively or negatively about your boss,
about your friend, about the movie you have seen or about anything you
happen to see.
2. Cognitive Component. Feelings, however, do not simply and automatically
develop. Most often they are based on knowledge. For example, if you
know that your friend is talking ill about you behind your back, such
knowledge would result in negative attitude towards your friend. Similarly,
you might believe that your supervisor does not know much about the job.
This belief is based upon your knowledge of how the supervisor is handling
the job. These beliefs, which may or may not be justified comprises the
cognitive component of attitude.
3. Behavioural Component. What you believe about something and how
you feel about it would determine your behaviour regarding that particular
person, event or situation. For example, if you believe that your boss is
embezzling company funds, and you feel negatively about it, you are likely
to behave with little respect for such a boss. You may either inform his
superiors about it or you may want to look for another job. Such
predisposition to act in a certain way contributes the behavioural component
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Attitudes and Values of the attitude. Such a predisposition may not actually predict your behaviour.
For example, if your boss is embezzling company funds, you may take
some steps or you might simply ignore it by convincing yourself that it does
not directly concern you. In other words, your intention to behave in a
NOTES certain way dictates how you actually do.
Based upon these components, attitudes can be defined as relatively stable
clusters of feelings, beliefs and behavioural predispositions. By including the words
relatively stable, we are referring to something that is not permanent nor fleeting.
In other words, once attitudes are formed, they tend to persist and can only be
changed by strong outside or inside forces. For example, your attitude towards
someone may be negative but may change if situations or circumstances change.
Attitude and Behaviour
It is assumed that the relationship between the attitude of a person and his behaviour
is causal in nature, meaning that the attitudes that people hold determine their
behaviour and what they do. Logic also suggests such a relationship. For example,
people watch television programs that they like, that is, their attitude about such
programs is positive.
Research conducted in the late sixties concluded that the relationship between
attitude and behaviour is, at best, minimal. More recent studies have indicated that
there is indeed a measurable relationship if moderating contingency variables are
taken into consideration. The moderating variables which have been found to be
most powerful include:
 Importance of the attitude
 Specificity of the attitude
 Accessibility of the attitude
Additionally, they have been also linked to existence of any social pressures
on the individual and the direct experience of the attitude.
Attitudes that are considered important by the individual tend to be strongly
related with behaviour. Similarly, attitudes that are specific are more predictable
of behaviour. For example, if someone really likes his job, it can be predicted that
he will stay with the company for a longer period of time. Attitudes that are
frequently expressed are more reliable and more accessible to the memory and
hence greater predictors of behaviour. Social pressures have a strong influence on
attitudes and behaviour. For example, a member of a group may not agree with
the group on certain issues but may go along, because of the social pressures
within the group. Finally, the personal experiences with people and situations affect
strongly the attitude and behaviour of a person. Positive experiences result in
positive attitudes and negative experiences result in negative attitudes. For example,
a student who has taken a course with a professor is in a much better position to
evaluate him as compared to someone who has not taken his course.
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 The relationship between attitude and behaviour is well documented. Attitudes and Values

However, a debate is still going on as to whether the changes in attitudes affect the
changes in behaviour or whether the changes in behaviour affect the changes in
attitudes. In other words, it is not clear as to which one is the cause and which one
is the effect. NOTES

Attitude Formation
The question often arises, ‘how are the attitudes and subsequent behaviours
formed?’ While attitudes are basically learned over the years, some inherited
characteristics do affect such attitudes. For example, physical characteristics such
as the height of the person. Tall and slim people are expected to dress well and
behave in a sophisticated manner. Similarly, intelligence is primarily an inherited
trait and it is related to certain behaviours. Intelligent people are considered to be
much more logical and this affects their attitude. Religion and religious beliefs can
be considered as inherited, as the religion of the child is determined by the religion
of his parents and it determines some aspects of individual behaviour, especially
those that concern attitudes based on morals, ethics and code of conduct. Similarly,
whether a person is born a male or a female determines some stereotype traits
such as aggressiveness and physical stamina. Most of the inherited traits are
strengthened by learning and experiencing.
While some attitudes are adopted early in life from our family values or
cultural environment, most are developed gradually over time through experiences
and observations. Some of the learned characteristics responsible for attitude
formation are:
Experiences: Our personal experiences with people and situations develop
our attitude towards such persons and situations. Through job experience, people
develop attitudes towards working conditions, salaries, supervision, group dynamics
and so on. Similarly, interaction with other people would determine your attitude
towards them. A positive interaction with a person would result in a positive attitude
towards that person. Many people who are afraid of swimming or horse riding or
darkness can trace back this fear to some fearful or negative experiences in these
areas in the past.
Perceptual biases: Perception is the result of a complex interaction of
various senses such as feelings, seeing, hearing and so on and plays an important
part in our attitude and behavioural formation. For example, if a manager perceives
a subordinate’s ability as limited, he will give him limited responsibility. Similarly,
we lose many good friends due to our changed perception about them.
Observation of the other person’s attitude: When we like someone,
we try to emulate that person’s attitude. For example, when we are impressed by
someone keeping calm under stressful circumstances and we appreciate such
calmness, we might try to do the same. Similarly, our attitude towards a spiritual
person changes if we observe him committing what we consider a sinful act.
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Attitudes and Values Association: Our association with the group we belong to strongly influences
our attitude. Our close association with a group would encourage us to be consistent
with the attitude of the group. Belonging to an elite group or a religious group
would determine some aspects of our attitude. Family association determines our
NOTES attitudes from the very beginning. There is a high correlation between the parents
and the children with respect to attitude in many specific areas. Similarly, attitudes
of our peers as we grow older also influence our own attitudes. We make friends
with people who share our own attitudes, interests and preferences. Many a times,
our parents object to our friendship with persons whom they deem undesirable
and encourage us to make friends with those who have an outlook similar to our
own.
Personality: Personality is a set of traits and characteristics, habit patterns
and conditioned responses to certain stimuli that formulate the impression that a
person makes upon others and this impression is a function of a person’s attitude.
This personality may come out as warm and friendly or arrogant and aggressive.
From an organizational behaviour point of view, it is believed that people who are
open-minded seem to work better than those who are narrow minded. Similarly,
people who are extroverts and outgoing are more likely to be successful as
managers than those who are introverts.
Functions of Attitude
The American psychologist Daniel Katz outlined four functions of attitudes. These
are:
 Adjustment Function: This function helps individuals adjust to their
environment.
 Ego-Defensive Function: The ego-defensive function refers to holding
attitudes that protect our self-esteem or that justify actions that make us feel
guilty.
 Value-Expressive Function: Value-expressive attitudes enable the
expression of the person’s centrally held values.
 Knowledge Function: The knowledge function refers to our need which
is consistent and relatively stable. This allows us to predict what is likely to
happen, and so gives us a sense of control.
5.2.1 Attitude Measurement
In social settings, we can judge a person’s attitude easily in the sense that we
either like or dislike a given attitude. However, at work, it is more difficult to
measure the attitude of workers towards work. Such measurement becomes
necessary for the management to predict employee behaviour which will affect the
quality of work. From the view point of measurement, attitudes may be defined by
describing measurement systems that social psychologists use to measure attitudes.
The most common and frequently used method of measuring attitude is by simply
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asking people about their attitudes towards various issues, people and factors. Attitudes and Values

This is accomplished by attitude surveys and questionnaires. Generally, bipolar

scales are used to measure the attitudes towards a job in terms of liking it or
disliking it. However, different scales have been created in order to measure the
degree of such liking or disliking. NOTES
One of the most commonly used ranking scale is the one which has five
categories ranging from most favourable to most unfavourable. Typical categories
and their ranks are:
1. Strongly agree
2. Agree
3. Neutral (Undecided)
4. Disagree
5. Strongly disagree
The standard survey for measuring the attitude of the employees generally
presents them with a series of statements and questions which also has a rating
scale indicating the extent of agreement or disagreement as stated above. Some
examples of statements are: ‘This management is very fair in dealing with employees’
or ‘My job makes the best use of my abilities’ or ‘I know what is expected of me’
and so on by totalling the responses on the customized questionnaire, the individual’s
attitude score can be calculated. The analysis and evaluation of these scores can
then be carried out for different teams, work groups, departments or the complete
organization.
The results of attitude surveys can sometimes surprise the management.
One company management was very happy with the way things were going.
Employees were actively involved in divisional decisions and the profitability was
very high leading to the assumption that employee morale was very high. The
management conducted a small attitude survey in order to confirm their thinking
and belief. As a part of the survey, the employees were presented with some of the
statements in order to identify their extent of agreement or disagreement. These
statements included the following:
 At workplace, your opinions are given importance
 You are encouraged to become a leader if you are willing to do so
 Your personal development has been discussed with you in the period
of last six months
The answers were totally unexpected. The results of the survey indicated
that disagreement to the first statement was expressed by 43 per cent of the
employees, disagreement to the second statement was expressed by 48 per cent
of the people and 62 per cent employees expressed their disagreement for the
third statement. Based on this survey, the management made some changes to
boost the employee morale, especially giving attention to such matters that caused
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Attitudes and Values By using such surveys on a regular basis, the management can get a valuable
feedback about the perceptions carried out by the employees with respect to their
working conditions. The management can also become aware of the different
potential problems that may hit the organization. The diagnosis of these problems
NOTES is possible at an early stage with such surveys. Once the management is notified of
these problems, they can take needful steps in order to rectify these problems and
timely actions can be taken in order to avoid any negative consequences.
One of the purposes of such surveys is to determine how variables relate to
each other and how changes in one variable are associated with changes in another
variable. For example, if we want to find a correlation between how fairly people
believe they are being paid and various work-related attitudes such as their
willingness to help co-workers. The researchers might find that the more workers
feel that they are unfairly paid, the less likely they are to help their co-workers.
Such studies can alert the management to take steps to create a more collegial
work environment.
Attitudes and Productivity
There are two key work attitudes, which determine the importance of attitude-
behaviour relationship with respect to productivity. These are job satisfaction and
organizational commitment. Equally important are the complex relationships
between job satisfaction and job performance.

5.3 VALUES AND ATTITUDE

Having an attitude implies the existence of an object towards which an attitude is

required. A value, however, is an ideal to which the individual subscribes; it
represents a basic conviction that a specific mode of conduct is preferable (in a
personal or social sense) to any other, and it is relatively stable and enduring
(Rokeach and Ball-Rokeach 1989). Attitude and behaviours are the consequences
of adhering to certain values. For example, if a person places high value on gender
equality in society, he would exhibit a positive attitude towards both the sexes and
behave accordingly. The relationship between attitude and behaviour is sometimes
moderated by values. For example, if a person is dissatisfied with both his job and
work colleagues (negative attitude), he may not be expected help others in times
of need. But if the person possesses a high value for cooperative behaviour, he
would go ahead and help others.
An attitude can emerge from a value. A person who places a high premium
on honesty is likely to develop a negative attitude towards a person who is dishonest.
A person who places high value on justice is likely to have a positive attitude
towards a person or a system which takes just and fair decisions. However,
sometimes attitudes may bring about a change in values. For example, low job
satisfaction (attitude) may, in the long run, change the person’s perspectives towards
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the importance of quality of work life (value). Therefore, it is imperative to understand Attitudes and Values

what values are and how they affect a person’s orientation towards work and the
organization.

NOTES
5.4 VALUES: MEANING, NATURE AND
CHARACTERISTICS

Employees have certain values in life. They view life from different angles which
are reflected in their work performance. Learning helps them develop high values
towards their jobs and the organization. Values refer to the basic convictions which
lead to formation of conduct or social preferences. Values are a combination of
different attitudes and attributes of individuals. They help employees decide what
is right, good, desirable, favourable and so on. One value may be useful for a
person, but may not be effective for others. The intensity attribute or value system
has relative importance. Values are a code of conduct developed by an individual
and the social system. Honesty, self-respect, equality, sincerity, obedience,
truthfulness, etc. are various examples of values.
Values are significant in organizational behaviour. Employees behave properly
if they give importance to values. Learning may help provide opportunities for
development of values. Employees would be aware of what ought to be done or
what ought not to be done by giving importance to values. Behaviour is modified
only if people are aware of right or wrong things which are the deciding components
of values. Learning aims to develop values so that employees can perform and
behave properly. Values influence objectives too, because values shape the attitude
and behaviour of employees. For example, obedient employees perform efficiently
without creating any problems for the management. Disciplined employees feel
directed towards objectives. Learning helps employees develop high values and
favourable behaviour.
Sources of Values
People develop values from different sources, e.g. parents, friends, teachers, society,
religion, workplace and national characteristics. Parents are the initiators of values.
Mother and father always tell us what is right or what is wrong. They ask their
children to do right things and avoid wrong things. Every family has certain values
which are inculcated in the children. Brothers and sisters play significant roles in
developing values. Parental guidance paves the value system on which children
develop their attitude and behaviour. That is why it is said that children of a good
family will be good and hard workers. Parents talk about society, friends, nations
and work values, and these values are incorporated by children in their attitudes
and behaviour.
Friends influence each other to resort to particular behaviour. Good company
helps develop good values. Teachers teach several good values to be adopted by
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Attitudes and Values students. Teachers are real instructors of value to learners. Society has a great
impact on shaping the inter-behaviour of people, which provides value formation.
Club members encourage different values depending upon their respective
characters. Values are learnt and developed through religious factors. God, universe,
NOTES fortune and suffering are attached to value application in behaviour. For example,
righteous behaviour pleases god and vice-versa. A pleased god showers fortune
and a displeased god gives suffering, as per several examples of religious and
cultural beliefs. Indian society believes that good values are related to godly pleasure
which give satisfaction to people. Workplaces teach honesty, responsibility,
diligence, endurance and so on. People should be honest and responsible while
performing a job. Good values have become strong forces for good behaviour
whereas bad values destroy social and economic ties. Misery, suffering and
dissatisfaction are associated with bad values. Good values give satisfaction as
they help one to perform better. National characters have a great impact on the
values exercised by the people. Warring nations have been developing warring
and fighting values as real factors for satisfaction. Peace-loving nations develop
peace values in people. Based on different sources of value formation, values are
different. Learning strengthens good values and avoids bad values through positive
and negative reinforcements respectively. The social learning process helps develop
varied values.
Types of Values
Values may be of different types, depending upon their sources of formation, namely
family values, economic values, social values, religious values and national values.
Family values preach methods of living in a family. The behaviour of family members
with each other depends on the values developed. For example, the relationship
between parents and children, brother and sister and so on, have certain behavioural
values. A father will treat his children affectionately. Similarly, children are expected
to honour and respect their parents. There are different family values which are
bases of satisfaction and happiness in the family.
Economic values give importance to money, financial resources and property
formation. If an employee is unable to develop himself and his family, he has not
given due importance to economic values. In the modern age, people recognise
economic values more than other values. Economic well-being is considered a
symbol of status and satisfaction. Social values refer to the methods of behaviour
in society. Social recognition and social satisfaction are related to social values. If
a friend helps other friends, he values friendship and selflessness. Religious values
are often observed in India where large sections of the people are governed by
religious values and acceptances. Religious leaders shape lives of people through
the preaching of religious values such as having faith in god, non-interference in
others’ lives, job fulfilment, being active, non-attachment, etc. The aim of life is
told to them and this incorporates several relevant values to shape the behaviour
of people. It is also referred to as a terminal value. People practice instrumental
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values for the development of family and society. Values at the workplace are Attitudes and Values

covered under economic values, whereas values of behaviour accepted in the

organization are known as instrumental values for achieving satisfaction. National
values are preached by national leaders. Mahatma Gandhi preached some
significant values to the people of the nation. Truth and non-violence were the two NOTES
important values preached by him. Different values are attached to particular
generations. The modern generation below the age of 30 are freer, leisure-minded,
flexible and so on.
Learning programmes should be designed in such a way that the employees
can develop high values for corporate development and their satisfaction as well.
Instrumental values of honesty, responsibility, ambition, courage and independence
may achieve the terminal values of self-respect, security, accomplishment, happiness
and self-satisfaction. Older people are conservative, loyal and quality-oriented
whereas the younger generation is flexible, leisure-liking and believes in building
up relations. Good values are to be explored, initiated and developed for the
modification of performance behaviour in an organization. Learning has a great
role to play in achieving this objective.

Check Your Progress

1. State the four basic characteristics of attitude.
2. What is perception a result of?
3. List some of the different sources of values.

5.5 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

QUESTIONS

1. Attitudes have four basic characteristics—direction, intensity, salience and

differentiation.
2. Perception is the result of a complex interaction of various senses such as
feelings, seeing, hearing and so on and plays an important part in our attitude
and behavioural formation.
3. People develop values from different sources, e.g. parents, friends, teachers,
society, religion, workplace and national characteristics.

5.6 SUMMARY

 Attitudes have four basic characteristics—direction, intensity, salience and

differentiation. The direction of an attitude is favourable, unfavourable or
neutral. We may like, dislike or be neutral in our views about a person, a
job or a situation.
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Attitudes and Values  It is assumed that the relationship between the attitude of a person and his
behaviour is causal in nature, meaning that the attitudes that people hold
determine their behaviour and what they do. Logic also suggests such a
relationship.
NOTES
 The question often arises, ‘how are the attitudes and subsequent behaviours
formed?’ While attitudes are basically learned over the years, some inherited
characteristics do affect such attitudes.
 In social settings, we can judge a person’s attitude easily in the sense that
we either like or dislike a given attitude. However, at work, it is more difficult
to measure the attitude of workers towards work.
 Having an attitude implies the existence of an object towards which an
attitude is required. A value, however, is an ideal to which the individual
subscribes; it represents a basic conviction that a specific mode of conduct
is preferable (in a personal or social sense) to any other, and it is relatively
stable and enduring (Rokeach and Ball-Rokeach 1989).
 Values are significant in organizational behaviour. Employees behave properly
if they give importance to values. Learning may help provide opportunities
for development of values.
 Values may be of different types, depending upon their sources of formation,
namely family values, economic values, social values, religious values and
national values. Family values preach methods of living in a family.
 Learning programmes should be designed in such a way that the employees
can develop high values for corporate development and their satisfaction as
well.

5.7 KEY WORDS

 Values: It refers to principles or standards of behaviour; one’s judgement

of what is important in life.
 Learning: It means the acquisition of knowledge or skills through study,
experience, or being taught.

5.8 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND

EXERCISES

Short-Answer Questions
1. How is attitude measured?
2. What is the relationship between values and attitude?

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Long-Answer Questions Attitudes and Values

1. Comment on the inter-relationship between attitude and behaviour.

2. Explain the formation of attitude.
3. Describe the various types of values. NOTES

5.9 FURTHER READINGS

Mishra, M.N. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Noida: Vikas Publishing House.

Robbins, Stephen P. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Davis, Keith. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Singh, Kavita. 2015. Organizational Behaviour: Text and Cases, 3rd Edition.
Noida: Vikas Publishing House.
Gordon, Judith R. 2001. Organizational Behavior: A Diagnostic. New Delhi:
Prentice Hall.
Aswathappa, K. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd.

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Groups in Organization
BLOCK - II
GROUPS AND WORK STRESS IN ORGANISATION

NOTES
UNIT 6 GROUPS IN
ORGANIZATION
Structure
6.0 Introduction
6.1 Objectives
6.2 Meaning and Characteristics of Groups
6.3 Reasons for Formation of Groups
6.3.1 Stages of Group Formation
6.4 Types of Groups
6.5 Group Norms
6.6 Group Cohesiveness
6.7 Decision Making and the Group
6.7.1 Individual and Group Decision Making
6.8 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
6.9 Summary
6.10 Key Words
6.11 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
6.12 Further Readings

6.0 INTRODUCTION

In general, a number of people together at a given place and given time can be
considered a group. People in a bus or the same compartment of a train or students
in a class are all known as groups. However, from an organizational point of view,
a group has a different meaning and definition. According to Marvin Shaw, ‘A
group is two or more persons who are interacting with one another in such a
manner that each person influences and is influenced by each other person.’ There
are two key elements in this definition that are essential. First is the ‘interaction’
among group members. For example, co-workers may work side by side on
related tasks, but if they do not interact with each other, they are not a group in the
organizational sense. The second element is the influence of one group member on
every other group member. This means that the group members are mutually
dependent with respect to the attainment of one or more common goals.

6.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

Self-Instructional  Explain the meaning and characteristics of groups
62 Material
  Discuss the stages of group formation Groups in Organization

 Examine the role of groups in decision making

6.2 MEANING AND CHARACTERISTICS OF NOTES

GROUPS

A group has a certain syntality which is developed further in an organization to

achieve group synergy. The origin of groupism has an interesting history. A group
is defined as ‘two or more interacting and interdependent individuals who have
come together to achieve particular objectives’. An individual will be unable to
perform all the required activities, and group formation is inevitable to achieve
organizational objectives. Groups may therefore be formed and accepted by an
organization. Groupism may also be informal, that is, not recognised but functioning
in the organization. Sometimes, informal groups are more effective in an
organization. Group dynamics is essentially used to increase the productivity and
profitability of an organization and group behaviour is different from individual
behaviour. Group behaviour helps achieve higher productivity than the sum of
individual performances because of group personality which is known as syntality.
Groups have a separate identity. They are given more importance in organisational
behaviour because group personality or syntality has synergy, i.e. higher output
than that of the sum of individual output. A group thinks, decides, sets goals and
tries to act upon these to achieve the group goals. Group behaviour has three
dimensional studies, viz. the basis of the foundation of the group, intra-group
behaviour and inter-group behaviour.
Group Formation
Group formation has certain objectives. The purpose behind group formation may
be task achievement, problem-solving, proximity or other socio-psychological
requirements. Group formation is based on activities, interactions and sentiments.
Task Accomplishment
The basic purpose of group formation is the achievement of certain objectives
through task performance. Individuals come closer in order to understand the
tasks and decide on the procedures of performance. In any organisation, task
accomplishment is the reason for which different groups such as an engineering
group, marketing group, foreman’s group and personnel group are formed for
achievement of the organisations’ goals. When an organisation faces some
procedural difficulties, concerned groups discuss them and evolve new techniques
of production, marketing and other functions.
Problem Solving
When people foresee or face certain problems, they unite to solve the problems.
Unity has strength. A group provides strength to members who are willing to
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Groups in Organization challenge any problem. Group behaviour gives more strength to come down heavily
on problems.
Proximity
NOTES People form groups because of proximity and attraction towards each other. The
group formation theory is based on propinquity, which means that individuals affiliate
because of spatial or geographical proximity. They interact frequently with each
other on many topics, because this interactive communication is rewarding.
Socio-psychological Factors
Sentiments and action-uniformities bring people closer. They also form groups for
safety, security and social achievements. People cooperate with members of the
group on social as well as economic grounds to reach satisfactory levels.
People form groups basically for activities, interaction and due to sentiments.
People living in proximity frequently discuss their problems. They try to reduce
their tensions and achieve satisfaction. Individuals interest each other only when
they have common attitudes and sentiments. People with diverse attitudes form
groups under certain compulsions to meet unexpected problems. Employees form
unions to ensure the safety and security of jobs. Outside the factory, they form
groups for religious, social, cultural and political activities.

6.3 REASONS FOR FORMATION OF GROUPS

There are two theories of group formation, i.e., functionalist theory and interpersonal
attraction theory. The first focuses on the functionality of the group aimed at achieving
collective goals and the second emphasizing on the human need for social interaction.
Sigmund Freud believed that groups form and continue because of the need
for affiliation and power.
Lewin held that group was a function of inter-related factors of the individual
and the group.
Interaction theory views the group as a system of interacting individuals that
produce three elements; activity-interaction-sentiment. This holds that you look at
each to understand group behaviour.
The systems theory adopts a position similar to interaction but adding the
elements of positions and roles along with inputs and out puts.
Sociometric orientation emphasizes interpersonal choices among group
members and the focus is on morale and performance and their dependence on
the group
Psychoanalytic orientation focuses on the drives of the individual and is
concerned about the motivational and defensive processes of the individual as
related to the group.
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 General Psychology orientation attempts to extend the theoretical analyses Groups in Organization

of individual behaviour to group behaviour.

Empirical-statistical orientation holds the basic concepts of group theory
can be discovered through the application of statistical analysis of data about
NOTES
individuals.
Formal and informal groups are formed in organizations for different reasons.
Formal groups are sometimes called official or assigned groups and informal groups
may be known as unofficial or emergent groups. Organizations routinely form
groups. If we assume that management decisions are rational, groups must benefit
organizations in some way. Presumably, the use of groups can contribute to achieving
and maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage. Groups can do this if they
enable an organization to fully tap the abilities and energy of its human resources.
Furthermore, with regard to informal groups, people form groups to meet their
individual needs.
(i) Performance
Group effort can be more efficient and effective than individual efforts, because it
enables the employees to specialize in and contribute to a variety of strengths.
Organizations structure employees into functional and task groups so that they can
develop and apply expertise in particular functions, products, problems or
customers. The other factor contributing to performance is motivation, and groups
can enhance this as well. When employees work in groups, the group is an important
force for creating and enforcing standards for behaviour.
(ii) Cooperation
Carrying out an organization’s mission is something no person can do alone.
However, for several people to accomplish a mutual goal, they must cooperate.
Group dynamics and characteristics can enhance cooperation among employees,
especially when members identify themselves as a group and are rewarded for
group success.
(iii) Satisfaction
If satisfaction improves motivation (and therefore performance), organizations as
well as individual employees can benefit from employees’ satisfaction derived from
group membership. A major source of this satisfaction is that people have a need
of being with others and being liked by them. The way people satisfy this category
of needs is by participating in groups focusing on social activity. Group membership
may also be a means of satisfying their need for security, power, and esteem.
6.3.1 Stages of Group Formation
Group development has been studied to find out the purposes behind development.
Different groups require different lengths of time for development. The development
structure is heavily influenced by the nature of groups. The various stages of group
development are forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. All the
groups may not accept the same order of group development. Self-Instructional
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Groups in Organization The first stage is forming, wherein the group decides its own purpose,
structure and leadership. Members decide what types of behaviour are acceptable.
The membership is increased till the group is finally established. Individuals are
brought together for the first time and a communication pattern is developed. The
NOTES interdependence of members is decided as per the structure and goals of the
group. They decide on plans of future action involving discussions on formulation
of group goals and evaluating the resources for achieving the goals.
The second stage of group development is storming, wherein members
storm their views. They put forth their views forcibly with strength, and this evidences
interpersonal conflicts. Many problems are brought to the group for discussion
and solution. Many conflicting views may be expressed. Authorities and supervisors
are frequently criticised for various reasons. However in an educated group, people
consider the views of others with patience. They arrive at unanimous decisions
with constructive attitudes. A group develops syntality and gets synergy if the
storming stage is actively smoothened. On the contrary, the group will not advance
if the members continue storming and conflicting with each other.
The third stage of group development is norming, wherein members
develop a close relationship and demonstrate cohesiveness. Members enjoy
belonging to the group and develop synergy. A strong sense of group identity and
a camaraderie is developed. The group structure is solidified and interpersonal
relationships are developed with increased cohesiveness and sharing of ideas. It
increases the positive behaviour and strong feeling of development among members.
The fourth stage is the performing stage. The group performs its functions
to achieve the desired objectives. It is fully functional and operational. This stage
is directed towards the accomplishment of group goals. It explores the action to
be taken and decides on innovations. Satisfactory performances and achievement
of group goals are observed under this stage.
The fifth stage is the adjourning stage of development when the group is
dissolved. The adjournment stage is generally undertaken after completing the
task, although the group may be adjourned even before completing the task, due
to misunderstanding and storming. Mutual friendship is lost, depression is observed
and the group is wrapped up with activities. Such adjournment is undesirable for
both individuals and the organisation. The group objectives should be fulfilled
before adjournment. Leaders play a great role in the continuation and adjournment
of the group. Dynamic leaders always try to review and strengthen the group
activities for the development of their people.

Check Your Progress

1. How is group behaviour a three dimensional study?
2. List the various stages of group development.

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 Groups in Organization
6.4 TYPES OF GROUPS

Groups can be either formal or informal. Let us discuss both types of groups.
Formal Groups NOTES

A formal group is set up by the organization to carry out work in support of the
organization’s goals. In formal groups, the behaviour that one should engage in are
stipulated by and directed towards organizational goals. Examples include a
bookkeeping department, an executive committee and a product development
team. The formal group may be a command group or a task group.
(i) Command group
A command group comprises a manager and the employees who report to him or
her. Thus, it is defined in terms of the organization’s hierarchy. Membership in the
group arises from each employee’s position in the organizational chart.
(ii) Task group
A task group comprises employees who work together to complete a particular
task or project. A task group’s boundary is not limited to its immediate hierarchical
superior. It can cross-command relationships. An employee’s membership in the
group arises from the responsibilities delegated to the employee—that is, the
employee’s responsibility to carry out particular activities. The task group may be
temporary with an established life span, or it may be open ended.
Informal Groups
An organization’s informal groups are groups that evolve to meet social or affiliation
needs by bringing people together based on shared interests or friendship. Thus,
informal groups are alliances that are neither formally structured nor organizationally
determined. These groups are natural formations in the work environment that
appear in response to the need for social contact. Many factors explain why people
are attracted to one another. One simple explanation is proximity; when people
work near one another every day, they are likely to become friends. That likelihood
is even greater when people share similar attitudes, personalities or economic
status.
(i) Friendship groups
Groups often develop because the individual members have one or more common
characteristics. These formations are known as friendship groups. Social alliances,
which frequently extend outside the work situation, can be based on similarities
age, political view, education, etc.
(ii) Interest groups
People who may or may not be aligned to common command or task groups may
affiliate to attain a specific objective with which each is concerned. This is an
interest group.
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Groups in Organization (iii) Reference groups
Sometimes, people use a group as a basis for comparison in making decisions or
forming opinions. When a group is used in this way, it is called a reference group.
Employees have reference groups inside or outside the organization where they
NOTES
work. For most people, the family is the most important reference group. Other
important reference groups typically include co-workers, friends and members of
the person’s religious organization. The employee need not admire a group for it
to serve as a reference group. Some reference groups serve as a negative reference;
the employee tries to be unlike the members of these groups.
(iv) Membership groups
When a person belongs to a group (formal and informal groups to which employees
actually belong) the group is called a membership group (or affiliation group) for
that person. Members of a group have some collective benefits and responsibilities
that go beyond the group serving as a reference point. In a membership group,
each member would be expected to contribute to the group’s well-being and
would enjoy the benefit arising from the group member’s friendship.

6.5 GROUP NORMS

Norms are shared ways of looking at the world. Groups control members through
the use of norms. A norm is a rule of conduct that has been established by group
members to maintain consistency in behaviour. Norms tell members what they
should and should not do under certain circumstances. From an individual’s
standpoint they tell what is expected of you in certain situations. Norms differ
among groups, communities, and societies, but they all have norms.
According to Hackman, norms have the following characteristics:
(i) Norms summarize and simplify group influence processes. They resolve
impersonal differences in a group and ensure uniformity of action.
(ii) Norms apply only to behaviour, not to private thoughts and feelings.
(iii) Norms are usually developed gradually, but the process can be
shortened if members so desire.
(iv) Not all norms apply to everyone. High-status members often enjoy
more freedom to deviate from the ‘letter of the law’ than do other
members.
Types of Norms
Norms are unique to each work group. Yet, there are some common classes of
norms that appear in most work groups.
(i) Performance-related processes: Work groups typically provide their
members with explicit cues on how hard they should work, how to get the
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 job done, their level of output, etc. These norms deal with performance- Groups in Organization

related processes and are extremely powerful in affecting an individual

employee’s performance.
(ii) Appearance factors: Some organizations have formal dress codes.
NOTES
However, even in their absence, norms frequently develop to dictate the
kind of clothes that should be worn to work.
(iii) Allocation of resources: These norms cover pay, assignment of difficult
jobs, and allocation of new tools and equipment.
(iv) Informal social arrangement: These norms can originate in the group or
the organization and cover pay assignment of difficult jobs, and allocation
of new tools and equipment.
Factors Influencing Conformance to Norms
As a member of a group, you desire acceptance from the group. Due to your
desire for acceptance, you are susceptible to conforming to the group’s norms.
Considerable evidence shows that groups can place strong pressures on individual
members to change their attitudes and behaviours to conform to the group’s
standard. However, conformity to norms is not automatic. It depends on the
following factors:
(i) Personality factors: Research on personality factors suggests that the more
intelligent are less likely to conform than the less intelligent. Again, in unusual
situations where decisions must be taken on unclear items, there is a greater
tendency to conform to the group’s norms. Under conditions of crisis,
conformity to group norms is highly probable.
(ii) Situational factors: Group size, communication patterns, degree of group
unanimity, etc., are the situational factors influencing conformity to norms.
(iii) Intragroup relationships: A group that is seen as being creditable will
evoke more compliance than a group that is not.
(iv) Compatible goals: When individual goals coincide with group goals, people
are more willing to adhere to group norms.

6.6 GROUP COHESIVENESS

Groups are a pervasive part of modern life. We are members of many different
groups. Although every group is different, possessing its own unique attributes and
dynamics, it is also true that in many important ways groups tend to display similar
patterns of evolution. Formal and informal groups are formed for various reasons.
Some of the reasons involve the need for satisfaction, proximity, attraction, goals
and economics. The closeness or commonness of attitude, behaviour and
performance makes groups cohesive.

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Groups in Organization Formal and informal groups seem to possess a closeness or commonness
of attitude, behaviour and performance. This ‘closeness’ or ‘commonness’ is called
‘cohesiveness’. Cohesiveness is a force that acts on the members to remain in a
group and is greater than the forces that work on members to pull them away from
NOTES the group. Highly cohesive groups comprise individuals who are motivated to be
together. Group cohesiveness is the extent to which a group is committed to
remaining together; it results from ‘all forces acting on the members to remain in
the group.’ The forces that create cohesiveness are attraction to the group,
resistance to leaving the group and motivation to remain a member of the group.
There are a number of reasons for groups to be cohesive. Some of them are given
below:
(i) The goals of the group and the members are compatible and therefore
individuals are attracted towards groups.
(ii) The group has a charismatic leader who is well respected and admired
by his followers.
(iii) Members get support from other group members and are helped by
other members to overcome obstacles and barriers.
(iv) The group is small enough to enable members have their opinions
heard and are evaluated by others.
The concept of group cohesiveness is important for understanding groups
in organizations. From the organization’s point of view, the degree of cohesiveness
in a group can have either positive or negative effects depending on how group
goals match up with those of the organization. If the group is highly cohesive but its
goals are not compatible with the organization then group behaviour will be negative.
Therefore, from the point of the organization, it may sometimes be desirable to
alter the cohesion of a work group; for example, if the group goals are compatible
with organizational goals then the managers must increase cohesiveness as higher
the group cohesiveness, the more beneficial is its effect on the organization.
However, when group goals counter those of the organization, managers must
take steps to decrease group cohesiveness. Here, it should be noted that attempts
to alter the cohesiveness of any group may not work and may even backfire on
the organization. Therefore, managers should exercise great care in making decisions
about attempting to influence the cohesion of work groups.
Successful groups reach their goals more often and this increases group
cohesiveness. It should also be noted that a successful group becomes more
cohesive and this increases the possibility of success.

6.7 DECISION MAKING AND THE GROUP

There are many situations that suddenly come up as ill-structured problems that
are unlikely to be solved by a single individual. In such situations where the problem
is unique and complex, the manager may assign the responsibility to a group of
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experts to look at the problem objectively and come up with recommendations. Groups in Organization

The group decision would become particularly appropriate for non-programmed

decisions because these decisions are complex and few individuals have all the
knowledge and skills necessary to make the best decision. It is often argued that
groups can make higher quality decisions than individuals. NOTES
According to Gary John, here are three assumptions that from the basis for
this argument. These are:
Groups are more vigilant than individuals: Because of natural
constraints, any single individual cannot look at all possible angles of a complex
problem and thus he may miss an important aspect of the issue. But if there are
more members looking at the same problem then it is more likely that someone
among the group has thought of or looked at that particular aspect. This is especially
important at problem identification and information search stages.
Groups can generate more ideas and develop more alternative
solutions than individuals: Members of the group come from different
backgrounds with different experiences and outlooks, so that it is more likely that
someone will come up with an idea that others had not thought of before. Also, by
listening to each other’s ideas, the group members may develop new ideas based
upon such information and come up with a unique solution that no single member
could conceive. For example, in college environment, in a course evaluation and
development programme, students, faculty and administrators are included in the
group to discuss the issues and develop various viewpoints.
Groups can evaluate ideas better than individuals: This again is a
result of various and diverse viewpoints presented by the members of the group.
Because individuals can sometimes become emotional when making decisions, it
is possible that bias would be introduced into the decision if it was made by one
person. Different persons can check for bias and evaluate ideas on a more objective
basis so that decisions would be made on the basis of facts and rationality rather
than sympathy and emotionalism. This view is expressed by Argyris as follows:
“Groups are valuable when they can maximize the unique contribution of
each individual. Moreover, as each individual’s contribution is enhanced, his or
her commitment to the resulting decision is increased or internalised.”
When to Use a Group
While groups are very useful in solving certain types of problems, not all types of
problems are better solved by groups. Hence some factors must be taken into
consideration in determining whether the decision making process should be initiated
by the group or not. The question is, what criteria can be used to help determine
whether or not to use a group?
There are basically two major criteria to be considered. One of these is the
quality of the decision. Quality refers to the degree of usefulness of the decision.
This is based upon objective analysis of facts and data. This ensures that the
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Groups in Organization problem is rationally looked at from all possible angles and a solution is arrived at
that is consistent with the organizational goals and policies and that is feasible and
optimal. The second criterion is that of acceptability. Acceptability of decision
refers to feelings, needs and emotions of those who implement such a decision or
NOTES who are affected by it. The ideal decision would be high on both criteria.
These two criteria may be interdependent or may be totally independent of
each other. Some decisions are only concerned with quality such as a technical or
a scientific problem where the employees are not expected to be emotionally
involved with the outcome. An example would be devising a new technical method
of operations where the employees are not affected at all. Some issues on the
other hand involve only the criterion of acceptance. For example, who works
overtime is an issue of acceptance by the employees. Decisions regarding increase
in the productivity, automation, reducing absenteeism, are all decisions where both
quality and acceptance are to be considered. For example, extremely harsh
measures to reduce absenteeism may not be accepted by employees unless it is
decided by a group that includes employee representatives. Accordingly, when
acceptance is critical, the management should seriously consider using a group for
the decision making process.
6.7.1 Individual and Group Decision Making
While the composition of the group is very important for effective decision making,
the presence and behaviour of a responsible group leader is the key element in
steering the group discussion and participation. The group leader is in a critical
position to affect the quality and acceptance of the decision. Whether he is elected
by the group or appointed by the management, his role is highly responsible in
setting the direction of the group discussion. A good leader of the group would not
dominate the discussion but generally guide the members towards the established
goals as well as moderate the discussion. He develops a kinship with the members
and is always sympathetic to the members input. There are some basic
characteristics of a good group leader whose attention and guidance would
determine the success of the group function. These basic characteristics fall into
two broad categories.
First category consists of task characteristics that deals primarily with the
operations of the group and the second category is that of maintenance
characteristics that deals with the human aspect of the group. These characteristics
are explained as follows:
Task Characteristics
1. The leader of the group must define the problem clearly and carefully and
bring it to the attention of the group members so that each member becomes
fully conversant with the issues at hand. He should initiate the discussion
and may suggest a procedure for finding a solution.

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 2. He should have the ability to make every member feel comfortable about Groups in Organization

the situation and the problem at hand and should seek relevant information
from group members who may not volunteer information unless asked. He
must encourage every member to express his opinions freely.
NOTES
3. The leader should have the ability and the knowledge to provide answers to
any questions, clarify interpretations of the data presented and guide the
members to the central point of discussion if the discussion becomes
tangential from varying interpretations of the same data.
4. The leader should offer his personal opinions for consideration, but he should
not excessively emphasise his viewpoint or assume the role of a dictator.
He should be willing to compromise, if necessary, for the sake of group
cohesion.
5. The leader should remain in continuous touch with the group so as to be
aware of the progress at any given moment. At the end of the discussion, a
leader should be able to summarise the ideas presented and propose a
conclusion to the group to accept, reject or modify.
Maintenance Characteristics
1. The leader should be fair and friendly to all the group members and maintain
a rapport with them by showing concern for their contribution and recognition.
2. He should be skilled in interpersonal relations so that he is able to sense the
mood of the group and share in that mood. He should try to settle
disagreements in a harmonious manner. This should result in reducing the
tension in the group environment.
3. He must be willing to give in wherever necessary. This would improve group
cohesiveness, respect for the leader and maintain an atmosphere of harmony.
4. The leader should be open minded and flexible. He should keep the lines of
communication with members open so that the members are free to express
their ideas openly and with confidence, expecting that their ideas would be
taken seriously.

Check Your Progress

3. What are the two types of formal groups?
4. What is the role of the leader in decision-making within a group?
5. What is group cohesiveness?

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Groups in Organization
6.8 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
QUESTION

NOTES 1. Group behaviour has three dimensional studies, viz. the basis of the
foundation of the group, intra-group behaviour and inter-group behaviour.
2. The various stages of group development are forming, storming, norming,
performing and adjourning.
3. The formal group may be a command group or a task group.
4. The leader of the group must define the problem clearly and carefully and
bring it to the attention of the group members so that each member becomes
fully conversant with the issues at hand.
5. Formal and informal groups seem to possess a closeness or commonness
of attitude, behaviour and performance. This ‘closeness’ or ‘commonness’
is called ‘cohesiveness’.

6.9 SUMMARY

 A group is defined as ‘two or more interacting and interdependent individuals

who have come together to achieve particular objectives.
 The purpose behind group formation may be task achievement, problem-
solving, proximity or other socio-psychological requirements. Group
formation is based on activities, interactions and sentiments.
 There are two theories of group formation, i.e., functionalist theory and
interpersonal attraction theory. The first focuses on the functionality of the
group aimed at achieving collective goals and the second emphasizing on
the human need for social interaction.
 The various stages of group development are forming, storming, norming,
performing and adjourning. All the groups may not accept the same order
of group development.
 Groups can be either formal or informal. A formal group is set up by the
organization to carry out work in support of the organization’s goals.
 An organization’s informal groups are groups that evolve to meet social or
affiliation needs by bringing people together based on shared interests or
friendship. Thus, informal groups are alliances that are neither formally
structured nor organizationally determined.
 A norm is a rule of conduct that has been established by group members to
maintain consistency in behaviour.

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  Formal and informal groups seem to possess a closeness or commonness Groups in Organization

of attitude, behaviour and performance. This ‘closeness’ or ‘commonness’

is called ‘cohesiveness’.
 There are many situations that suddenly come up as ill-structured problems
NOTES
that are unlikely to be solved by a single individual. In such situations where
the problem is unique and complex, the manager may assign the responsibility
to a group of experts to look at the problem objectively and come up with
recommendations.

6.10 KEY WORDS

 Group: It refers to a number of people or things that are located, gathered,

or classed together.
 Formal group: It is set up by the organization to carry out work in support
of the organization’s goals. In formal groups, the behaviour that one should
engage in are stipulated by and directed towards organizational goals.
 Command group: It comprises a manager and the employees who report
to him or her.
 Motivation: It can be defined as a general desire, need or want that
generates the energy required for someone to behave in a specific manner.

6.11 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND

EXERCISES

Short-Answer Questions
1. What do you understand by group formation?
2. Differentiate between formal and informal groups.
3. List the different types of norms.
Long-Answer Questions
1. Discuss the different stages of group formation.
2. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of group decision-making.
3. ‘Groups control members through the use of norms’. Elaborate.

6.12 FURTHER READINGS

Mishra, M.N. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Noida: Vikas Publishing House.

Robbins, Stephen P. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.

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Groups in Organization Davis, Keith. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Singh, Kavita. 2015. Organizational Behaviour: Text and Cases, 3rd Edition.
Noida: Vikas Publishing House.
NOTES
Gordon, Judith R. 2001. Organizational Behavior: A Diagnostic. New Delhi:
Prentice Hall.
Aswathappa, K. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd.

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 Work Stress

UNIT 7 WORK STRESS

Structure NOTES
7.0 Introduction
7.1 Objectives
7.2 Causes and Factors of Stress
7.2.1 Sources of Stress
7.3 Consequences of Job Stress
7.4 Stress-Performance Relationship
7.5 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
7.6 Summary
7.7 Key Words
7.8 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
7.9 Further Readings

7.0 INTRODUCTION

Stress is a state of mind that reflects certain biochemical reactions in the human
body and is projected by a sense of anxiety, tension and depression and is caused
by such demands by the environmental forces or internal forces that cannot be met
by the resources available to the person. The intensity of such demands that require
a readjustment of resources or operational styles would determine the extent of
stress. Such environmental events or conditions that have the potential to induce
stress are known as ‘stressors’.
Medical researcher Hans Selye first used the term ‘stress’ to describe the
body’s biological response mechanisms. He defined stress as ‘the nonspecific
response of the body to any demand’. It must be understood that for the stress to
occur, the response should be non-specific. All responses require utilization of
energy. Any demand made on the body that is for some specific activity that is
natural, expected and a part of daily routine, does not necessarily create stress.
Even walking, thinking, writing and doing physical activities that are a part of personal
and organizational existence, require energy consumption of the body but are not
necessarily stress producing forces.
Stress does not necessarily occur due to undesirable developments. All
situations that produce increased demand on a vital activity requiring adaptation to
a new situation, produce stress in the form of a stereotyped pattern of bio-chemical,
functional and structural changes in the human organism. These situations could be
fear, pain, fatigue, emotional arousal, humiliation, frustration, need for concentration,
loss of blood, drugs, loss of a loved one, non-occurrence of an expected event
and even unexpected successes that require a change in the operational style.

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Work Stress

NOTES

Source: Henry L. Tossi, John R. Rizzo and Stephen J. Carroll, Managing Organizational
Behavior, Ballinger Publishing Co., 1986, p. 296.

The stress created by desirable and successful events is called ‘eustress’

and the stress created by undesirable outcomes is known as ‘distress’. It is primarily
the distress form of stress that requires examination and steps to cope with it.
Eustress is a positive, healthy and developmental stress response. Thus, just as
tension on muscles causes them to strengthen, some level of stress may lead to
better performance and a more adjusted personality. Since we learn how to deal
with our problems better, it improves our capacity to confront distress better.
However, even though some levels of stress are necessary for psychological growth,
creative activities and the acquisitions of new skills such as learning to drive a car
or learning the use of a computer, it is the highly stressful situations that weaken a
person’s physical and psychological capacity to cope with the stressors that have
dysfunctional consequences. Just as high level stress is damaging to the physical
and psychological well-being of the person, extremely low levels of stress are
equally undesirable for they cause boredom, and result in lack of stimulation,
innovation and challenges. Thus, moderate level of stress is necessary for higher
level of performance. The following diagram shows the relationship between the
level of performance and degree of stress.

Source: Henry L. Tossi ..... See second revised edition.

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 Work Stress
7.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 Explain the concepts of ‘good’ stress and ‘bad’ stress NOTES
 Understand why some stress has positive effects on performance
 Know the symptoms of stress both in physiological and psychological terms
 Evaluate various forms of stress
 Analyse some of the sources of stress, both organizational factors, as well
as personal factors
 Discuss the consequences of job stress
 Establish the relationship between stress and performance
 Describe how to cope with stress including organizational strategies for
coping with stress

7.2 CAUSES AND FACTORS OF STRESS

The general adaptation syndrome refers to a general development of responses to

stressful events in the form of physiological, psychological and behavioural responses
believed to follow a fairly consistent pattern and consists of three stages. The first
stage is known as ‘alarm’ stage and it occurs at the first sign of stress. It results in
physiological changes in the body as a warning and preparation against stress.
During this initial stage, muscles become tense, blood pressure rises, pupils dilate
and there is increase in hormone flow such as adrenaline from endocrine glands.
The second stage in bodily responses is that of resistance. In this stage, the body’s
energies tend to resist the stress so that the physiological and psychological
equilibrium can be maintained. If this resistance is successful then the stress will
disappear. However if the stress is of a high degree and continues long enough,
then the body’s capacity for adaptation becomes exhausted. In this third stage of
exhaustion, the person is unable to cope with the stress and the individual
experiences physical and mental pressures that result in such illness as continuous
headaches, ulcers and high blood pressure. It is this last stage that presents the
greatest threat to the individual’s well-being.
Stress Responses
As mentioned briefly above in the general adaptation syndrome, the process of
stress elicits three types of responses. These are physiological, psychological and
behavioural responses.
Physiological Responses
As soon as stress appears, the brain reacts and immediate biochemical changes
take place in heart beat and heightening of practically all the senses. The long
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Work Stress terms physiological effects are more disturbing. Serious health problems occur as
body confronts stress over a long period of time. The stress could lead to
breakdowns in the body’s immune systems and may result in serious health
problems such as high blood pressure, ulcers and heart attack. In general, according
NOTES to Baron, ‘taking all evidence into account though, it seems reasonable to conclude
that high level of stress can result in physical changes that threaten our health and
well-being’.
Psychological Problems
There are some people who can handle stress better than others. People who
tend to be highly affected by stress tend to be depressed and lack self-confidence
and self-esteem. They tend to believe that they are helpless and elicit sympathy
from others. They have greater fear of the unknown and an increased sense of
futility, tension and neurotic tendencies. They become irritated quickly, are impatient
and tend to blame everybody else for their own problems. They are more worried
about their job security and their job commitment is very low.
Behavioural Changes
According to Cohen, people under constant stress behave differently as compared
to people who are emotionally well-balanced. Stress is usually associated with
increased use of alcohol, smoking, eating and sometimes drugs. People under
stress may gain weight and thus behave differently. Their behaviour becomes highly
defensive or highly aggressive towards others and inter-personal relationships are
highly affected. Stress induces irritation and lack of patience and these elements
are exhibited in behavioural patterns. The person may become an introvert, may
withdraw from social situations and may avoid communication with others resulting
in social isolation.
Basic Forms of Stress: Frustration and Anxiety
Frustration is a form of behaviour that occurs when a person wishes to achieve a
certain objective or pursue a certain course of action, but is prevented from doing
so. It refers to an obstruction or impediment to goal oriented behaviour. Examples
of frustration include a salesman continuously failing to make a sale, a professor
continuously applying for a promotion and failing to get it or inability to get
subordinates to act according to our wishes. There are several factors that cause
frustration. First is the unnecessary delay in achieving the goal, even when the goal
is eventually available. Delay in getting a promotion, delay in finishing a report and
even waiting for a friend after the due time can cause frustration. The second
factor causing frustration is the lack of resources. Sometimes the goals are not
achieved because individuals lack the physical, personal or interpersonal resources.
A professor who is burdened with administrative duties and does not get enough
time to do research that is necessary for promotion may become frustrated because
of such time constraints. The third cause of frustration may be the actual failure in
achieving the goal. A lost client, a poor evaluation by superiors, failure in the exam

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or failure to get a promotion are all causes of frustration that are manifested in Work Stress

stress.
A second form of stress is the ‘anxiety’ which is a feeling of inability and
helplessness in formulating appropriate responses or plans for dealing with the
NOTES
anticipated negative outcomes. It occurs when a decision has to be made but the
outcome of the decision could have positive as well as negative consequences.
For example, should you cheat in the exam or not, not knowing whether you will
get through or get caught? These are some anxious moments. Anxiety also occurs
when all your options result in undesirable consequences. For example, if you are
working with a company for a long time and have built roots in the community
where you live and your company is moving to a different far off location and you
have the choice of either moving with the company or losing the job. Both of these
alternatives make you feel uncomfortable and hence become a cause of anxiety.
What causes anxiety in work environment? According to Hammer and Organ:
‘Difference in power in organization which leave people with a feeling of
vulnerability to administrative decisions adversely affecting them, frequent changes
in organizations, which make existing behaviour plans obsolete, competition, which
creates the inevitability that some persons lose ‘face’, esteem and status, and job
ambiguity (especially when it is coupled with pressure). To these may be added
some related factors, such as lack of job feedback, volatility in the organization’s
economic environment, job insecurity and high visibility of one’s performance
(success as well as failure). Obviously, personal non-organizational factors come
into play as well, such as physical illness, problems at home, unrealistically high
personal goals and estrangement from one’s colleagues or one’s peer group’.
Accordingly, there are a number of factors, both organizational as well as
individualistic, that cause frustration and anxiety.
7.2.1 Sources of Stress
There are two major sources of stress. These are organizational sources and personal
sources. Both these categories are considered in detail as follows:
Organizational Factors
Almost every aspect of work can be a stressor for someone. Even though there
are many factors in the work environment that have some influence on the extent
of stress that people experience at the job, the following factors have been shown
to be particularly strong in inducing stress.
Stressors intrinsic to the job: The nature of the job itself can determine
the type and degree of stress that can be induced. Some jobs lead to more stress-
related responses than others. For example, such jobs as that of a police officer,
or air traffic controller are often considered to be low-stress jobs.
In general high stress occupations are those in which the employees have
little control over their operations, work under time constraints and have major
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Work Stress responsibilities for human or financial resources. Persons working under threatening
working conditions such as temperature extremes, pollution, uncomfortable lighting
and ventilation and loud noise are also vulnerable to high stress.
According to one study, some of the high-stress jobs are: foreman, manager,
NOTES
inspector, waitress or waiter and clinical lab technician. On the contrary, some of
the low stress jobs are: college professor, personnel worker, craft worker, farm
labourer and so on.
Studies conducted by Karasek and his colleagues at Columbia University
showed a higher risk of coronary disease as a consequence of stress in some jobs
and less in others. They identified two job factors that affect the level of such risk.
These factors are the ‘level of psychological demand’ and the ‘level of decision
control’ over work. People with high psychological demands and low decision
control are constantly under pressure, for they must meet the demands imposed
upon them without having any say in it. For example, a waitress in a restaurant
must wait on the customer as well as depend upon the cook. She is subjected to
demands both by the customer as well as the cook with no control over it and thus
is subjected to high pressure and risk. According to this study, some of the jobs
are categorised as follows:
(a) Low psychological demand/low decision control: Some of the jobs in
this category are: janitor, night watchman, truck driver, billing clerk
and so on.
(b) Low psychological demand/high decision control: The jobs in this
category are: auto repair man, sales clerk, peddler, scientist and so
on.
(c) High psychological demand/high decision control: This category
contains jobs such as: sales manager, bank officer, physician, school
teacher and so on.
(d) High psychological demand/low decision control: These jobs carry
maximum strain and are those of: waitress, telephone operator, cook,
assembly line worker and so on.
Role ambiguity: A role is a set of activities associated with a certain position
in the organization or in the society. According to Kahn, if these work activities are
ill-defined, then the person who is carrying out these activities will not behave as
others expect him to, because his role is not clearly defined. Thus, when there is a
lot of uncertainty regarding job definitions or job expectations, then people
experience role ambiguity.
Role ambiguity is particularly strong among managerial jobs where
responsibilities are more general in nature and role definitions and task specifications
are not clear. This role ambiguity is especially prevalent among companies that
have merged or acquired other companies while keeping the employees. Thus
employees become uncertain of what exactly they are supposed to do and exactly
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whom they should report to. This role ambiguity causes stress. French and Caplan, Work Stress

summarised their study findings as follows:

‘In summary, role ambiguity, which appears, to be widespread, (1) produce
psychological strain and dissatisfaction, (2) leads to under-utilization of human
NOTES
resources, and (3) leads to feeling of futility on how to cope with the organizational
environment.’
Role conflict: Role conflict occurs when two or more persons have different
and sometimes opposing expectation of a given individual. Thus there are two or
more sets of pressures on the individual so that it is not possible to satisfy all of
them. In other words, role conflict occurs when contradictory demands are
simultaneously placed upon an employee. For example, an architect may be
expected to produce creative designs, while on the other hand, there may be time
constraints put upon him, both roles being in conflict with each other. Similarly, a
contractor may ask a carpenter to do something that may be different than what
the city building code prescribe, thus causing a role conflict.
Another type of role conflict is the inter-role conflict where an individual
plays more than one role simultaneously in his life and the demands of these roles
conflict with each other. For example, a father may know that his son has committed
a crime but does not inform the police or a police officer may be invited to his
brother’s wedding party where the guests use drugs that is against the law.
Studies conducted by Robert Kahn and his colleagues at the University of
Michigan regarding role conflict, lead to the following conclusion:
‘Contradictory role expectations give rise to opposing role pressures (role
conflict), which generally have the following effects on the emotional experience of
the focal person: intensified internal conflicts, increased tension associated with
various aspects of the job, reduced satisfaction with the job and its various
components, and decreased confidence in superiors and in the organization as a
whole. The strain experienced by those in conflict situations leads to various coping
responses such as social and psychological withdrawal (reduction in communication
and attributed influence) among them.
Finally the presence of conflict in one’s role tends to undermine his relations
with his role senders to produce weaker bonds of trust, respect and attraction. It
is quite clear that role conflicts are costly for the person in emotional and interpersonal
terms. They may be costly to the organization, which depends on effective
coordination and collaboration within and among its parts.’
Role overload: Role overload occurs when the work requirements are so
excessive that employees feel that they do not have adequate time or ability to
meet such requirements. Working under time pressure is especially stressful whether
it is meeting a deadline for a report or studying near the exam period. The
physiological symptoms of stress increase significantly prior to deadline and
decrease sharply after the deadline has passed. The role overload can occur either
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Work Stress when there is too much work to complete in a given time or when it is too difficult
to accomplish because of lack of skills and ability.
Role underload: Role underload occurs when a person’s ability is
underutilised so that either there is too little work or there is too little variety in the
NOTES
work. If a salesman with high inter-personal skills is given a job in a department
store where there are not too many customers, then he will feel that his ability is
not being properly utilised. Similarly, assembly line workers whose jobs are routine
and highly monotonous also experience role underload.
Role underload leads to excessive absenteeism and such workers show
very little interest in the organizational activities. It results in low self-esteem and
low work satisfaction. This creates stress with increased frequency of nervous
complaints and other health problems.
Stress as reflected in role overload and underload can be reflected
diagrammatically as follows:

Responsibility for people: Any type of responsibility can be a burden

upon an individual. For example, organizational responsibility for such factors as
budgets, equipment and projects can cause stress. However it is the responsibility
for people working for you that is a cause for continuous concern. As a manager,
your effectiveness is a function of quality performance of your subordinates. Hence,
you will be held responsible for anything that goes wrong, which creates stress
and this stress is intensified when the manager has a limited degree of control over
the subordinates. As noted by French and Caplan, ‘If there is any truth to the
adage that ‘man’s greatest enemy is himself’, it can be found in these data—it is
the responsibility which organizational members have for other organizational
members, rather than the responsibility for impersonal aspects of the organization,
which constitutes the more significant organizational stress.’
Lack of participation: When the employees are invited to participate in
decision-making process in their areas of concern then the employees perceive
that they have more control over their own environment thus reducing the extent
of role conflict and role ambiguity that cause stress. For example, in a work situation
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where high role conflict is created because of inconsistent demands from the Work Stress

superiors, the stress created by such high role conflict is reduced if the subordinates
and superiors can participate and work together in reducing such inconsistencies.
Participation in decision making also helps in reducing role ambiguity and
NOTES
role overload resulting in reduced stress.
Interpersonal Relationships
The effectiveness of the organization is influenced by the nature of the relations
among group members. One of the major sources of stress in organizational setting
is poor interpersonal relationships, be it within the group or with superiors or
subordinates. When interpersonal relationships are not very cordial, the employees
develop a general sense of anxiety when they have to deal with each other or
depend upon each other such as a group task or departmental meetings where
they have to interact with each other.
Sayings like ‘too much familiarity breeds contempt’ have validity in that too
much prolonged contact with other people can cause stress. This stress is further
intensified when the people we come in contact with are in distress themselves.
For example, we become distressed when our friends have problems. Parents are
generally under great tension when their children do not do well in schools or
when they get involved in drugs. For this reason, employees in such professions as
health care and social services report the highest level of stress. According to
Albrecht, doctors have the highest rate of alcoholism among all the professions
and psychiatrists have the highest rate of suicide.
When a person has to deal with people in other departments, conflict may
also occur. For example, assume that there is a professor from Business Division
who is up for promotion that is to be decided by a committee comprised of
representatives from all divisions. If the professor does not get the promotion he
may feel that the representatives from the Humanities Division or Social Sciences
Division do not appreciate the requirements in the Business Division, thus causing
conflict and stress. As another example, the X-ray technicians in a hospital may
not be able to deal with the service demands of the doctors and surgeons, thus
creating stress and tension.
Much of the quality of interpersonal relationships also depends upon the
organizational climate. An organizational climate may be conducive to a relaxed
style of working or it may be tense and crisis-oriented. The employees are
continuously tense, if the organizational climate in general is unfriendly, hostile or
totally task oriented.
Personal Factors in Stress
Events in personal life cannot be isolated from events in work life. A person with
an unhappy family life seldom expresses a positive attitude at work. Much of the
stress brought about by non-work situations may be due to divorce, marriage,
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Work Stress death of a loved one, financial difficulties and many other socio-cultural relationships.
These difficulties are stress producers especially if they are unexpected. For
example, we know that children leave home when they grow up or when they go
to college so that this is expected and this separation does not necessarily cause
NOTES stress. On the other side, problems at work can manifest in stress in personal life.
Thus job stress and life stress are often related in that high stress in one area can
induce or increase stress in the other.
Some of the specific non-work stressors are:
Job concern: Job and career variables can become stressors when they
become sources of concern, anxiety or frustration to the individual. One of the
major concerns is the lack of job security. Except for jobs with tenure or strong
union support, very few employees have job security. This insecurity increases
during times of recessions or impending recessions. The prospect of losing a job,
especially when you have a family and your social roots are well-established, is
very stressful.
Another reason for job related stress may be the perception of the employee
regarding his status on the job. Persons who are not promoted when due or persons
who feel that their jobs are beneath their qualifications may feel that they are not
using their potential to the best and may become anxious about it. This is especially
true for middle aged men and women when that time itself becomes a period of
soul searching and self-doubt. Career progress then becomes a focal point.
Relocation: When an employee has to relocate geographically because of
a transfer or promotion, it disrupts the routine of his daily life, causing concern and
stress. The fear of working in a new location, unpredictability about new work
environment, and the prospect of creating new relationships always cause some
anxiety. Relocation also creates problems for the spouses and children of
employees. They are also uprooted from schools, friends and jobs. It is especially
difficult for them because generally the family moves with the husband’s job and
they do not have much say in it. The stress related to this geographic mobility is
greater when the wife also has a job and she has to leave the job to go with the
family. Uncertainty about getting a new job at the new location creates some
degree of stress. Thus the more changes that occur in a person’s social relationships
and family life because of relocation, the greater the person’s stress will be.
Changes in life structure: The structure of life and process of living has
many facets. Some of these facets are socio-cultural in nature such as family,
religion, race, education, economic situation as well as a person’s interaction with
the socio-cultural world in the role of a husband, a parent, a friend or a citizen. In
addition, the life structure may change as we grow older from one period to another
such as childhood to adolescence and so on. As we grow older, our responsibility
to ourselves as well as others changes and increases. The higher the responsibility,
the greater the stress.

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 The extent of stress is also determined by the ability to cope with stress or Work Stress

the kind of sources a person seeks to deal with stress. For example, people who
have strong faith in God and His Will find it easier to deal with such stressful
situations as the loss of a loved one. Similarly, family and friends are source of
great comfort at such times of crisis. NOTES
The pace of life would also determine whether a person’s life is stable or
turbulent. As the responsibilities increase, so does the capacity to execute them.
Professions such as those of doctors or businessmen are more stressful and hectic
than those of say, college teaching.
The degree of stress created by certain events in life can be assessed by
‘Social Readjustment Rating Scale’ developed by Thomas Holmes and Richard
Rake. In order to construct the stress impact scale, they asked people to rate as
to how long it would take to adjust to certain stressful events and how severe the
adjustment to these events would be. From the responses, they developed a ranking
and a weighting for each of these stress producing events. For example, the death
of a spouse was considered to be the most stress producing event. The following
table shows the ranking of some of these events.
Life Event Weight
Death of a spouse 100
Divorce 73
Jail term 63
Death of a close family member 63
Marriage 50
Fired from work 47
Pregnancy 40
Sex difficulties 39
Child leaving home 29
Change in residence 20
Christmas 12

If an individual accumulates a large number of stressor points in a relatively

short period of time, it is more likely that stress would be obvious. The higher the
number of points, the more likely that stress will result in serious illness.

7.3 CONSEQUENCES OF JOB STRESS

As has been discussed, the conditions that create stressful situations for employees
are fairly constant such as, fear of losing the job, work overload, lack of participation
in decisions regarding their own work environment, non-supportive supervisors,
and co-workers, limited job opportunities and so on. The stress is acute specially
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Work Stress for current generation middle managers whose jobs are more uncertain, and who
have less control over their destinies as compared with senior level managers,
Furthermore their stress coping capabilities are reduced because they are generally
more mobile, less religious, marry later in life and have fewer children-factors that
NOTES act as a buffer and reduce the impact of stress.
According to Business Week, ‘Stress. From the corner office to the factory
floor, it is epidemic in US business. Competition, Bloody Monday layoffs, mergers
and acquisitions—all are taking their toll in derailed careers, broken families and
emotional disorders. Signs are everywhere. Employees drink to excess and slip
disastrously in their performance. They erupt into fits of uncontrollable rage at
work and abuse their families at home. A few commit suicide.’
It is important to deal with stress at an early stage. Early warning signs such
as headaches, back pain, irritability, insomnia, absenteeism from work or alcoholism
should be taken seriously. Otherwise they could lead to serious emotional disorders
as well as physiological problems such as ulcers and heart disease. When stress is
left untreated for a long time, it can develop into anxiety and depression. According
to Business Week again, stress and depression share a common chemistry in the
brain. A hormone called Corticotropin Releasing Hormone (CRH) puts a shield of
defence against stress. Even after the stress subsides, the body keeps releasing
the hormone, sometimes for years. When stress gets out of hand, it results in
severe depression, and depression if untreated can be fatal. Depressed individuals
make up some 60 per cent of all suicides.
Physiological Reaction to Stress
High degree of stress is typically accompanied by severe anxiety, frustration and
depression. There is evidence that work stress is associated with heart irregularities,
high levels of blood pressure and high levels of cholesterol. Studies conducted by
Stole, regarding the effects of a plant closing in Detroit showed an ‘alarming rise in
anxiety and illness’, with at least fifty per cent of employees suffering from ulcers,
arthritis, serious hypertension, alcoholism and depression.
Some of the physiological symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression are
as follows:
Stress: Irritability, insomnia, alcohol and food abuse. Physical changes
including rapid breathing and heart rate, tensed muscles. Prolonged stress can
cause muscular twitches, skin problems, baldness and sexual problems such as
impotence.
Anxiety: Excessive worry, irritability, anger, nervousness as well as inability
to concentrate or sleep. Physical changes include palpitations, chest pain and
dizziness.
Depression: Feelings of sadness, hopelessness, guilt and worthlessness, loss
of interest in activities, change in appetite or weight, difficulty in concentrating and
suicidal thoughts.
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 Also there is strong evidence that job stress contributes directly to life Work Stress

threatening diseases and in fact shortens one’s life.

7.4 STRESS-PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIP NOTES

One of the major concerns of management is the negative impact stress has on
performance. People under high stress tend to withdraw from the contact with the
stressor in the form of turnover and absenteeism. In extreme cases, it may result in
sabotage. Workers sometimes create mechanical failure in order to take a break
from strain of monotonous work. Any factor that causes negative effects on our
physical and psychological well-being is also expected to affect our work behaviour.
Exposure to strong and enduring stress influences important aspects of our behaviour
at job thus affecting productivity.
The relationship between stress and performance appears to be rather
complex. It is affected by the difficulty of the task being performed, the nature of
the specific stressor involved and a wide range of personal and situational factors.
However, in general, productivity is considered to be at a peak with moderate
level of stress. Performance is poor at low level of stress as well as at high level of
stress. At low level of stress, the person may not be sufficiently energized and may
not be whole-heartedly involved in his work, resulting in low productivity. As the
level of stress increases from low levels to moderate levels, the performance level
also increases to reach the peak level. An optimum level of stress exists for any
task. If the stress continues to increase from this level, the person becomes too
agitated and frustrated, resulting in performance deterioration.
It has been believed that the relationship between stress and performance is
curvilinear. It follows an inverted U-shaped curve as shown previously and
reproduced here.

However, the validity of the clear-cut relationship is being questioned and

some behaviour scientists believe that performance actually decreases when stress
increases from low levels to moderate levels, even though the rate of decrease in
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Work Stress performance is less than the rate of decrease when stress increases from moderate
to high levels. This relationship is shown as below:

NOTES

Stress also impairs the ability to make effective decisions. People under
stress are in a state of irritation and are unable to concentrate. They become
impatient and are more likely to avoid or postpone making decisions. They are
less likely to seek new information and are more likely to forget some important
pieces of available information. As a result, the quality of decisions they make
suffers, and the cost of a wrong decision can be very high.
Job Burnout
Job burnout is the extreme case of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion,
when stressors seem to be unavoidable and sources of relief seem to be unavailable.
People feel totally drained and dread going to work. They develop negative feelings
about their jobs and about their life in general. This burnout is a direct result of
prolonged exposure to intense stress.
Physical exhaustion results in general feelings of tiredness and people exhibit
such symptoms as low energy, frequent headaches, sleeplessness and changes in
eating habits.
Emotional exhaustion results in feelings of depression, helplessness, and
hopelessness. People who are emotionally exhausted develop a feeling of
worthlessness and tend to believe that life has no meaning or goal.
Mental exhaustion result in low self-esteem and develops negative attitudes
towards life and job. People tend to feel inadequate and incompetent and they
often dislike their colleagues, their co-workers or their clients.
Recent studies have shown that burnout seems to be the most common
among professionals who must deal extensively with other people. Job burnout is
most visible among professionals such as managers, lawyers, nurses, accountants
and social workers. It has been estimated that 20 per cent of such professionals
suffer from job burnout.

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Coping with Stress Work Stress

We know that some stress is necessary for optimum efficiency. We also have a
general idea as to the level of stress that is destructive to job performance.
Accordingly, it is necessary for individuals, as well as management to take steps to NOTES
reduce stress to acceptable levels.
Individual Strategies
It is necessary for physical and psychological well-being of the person to reduce
or eliminate the negative effects of stress. It is possible to manage stress, at least in
the sense that a person can either avoid stressful conditions, change them or learn
to cope with them. There are a number of ways by which stress can be managed
so that the person has control over his life. Some of these strategies deal with the
individual himself and focus on improving his physical and mental strength to deal
with stress from all sources and some strategies deal specifically with job related
stress.
Some of the stress reducing strategies that strengthen the individual’s well-
being are:
Re-adjust life goals: Because of the severe competition to ‘get ahead’,
most individuals set very high standards and goals for themselves. They are always
trying to do too much in too little time. They have tremendous fear of failing and
they are running to nowhere. These high expectations and limited resources to
reach such expectations result in stress. Accordingly, people must readjust their
goals and make sure they have the ability and proper resources to reach such
goals. Perhaps the goals should be established after resources have been analysed.
Social support: There is a saying that, ‘a friend in need is a friend indeed’.
Good friends become highly supportive during the times of stress and crisis. Close
and reliable friends may give a sympathetic hearing to your problems, a more
objective assessment of the situation and support your sagging self-confidence or
self-esteem. Many people turn to God for support during times of difficulties,
believing God to be their ‘best friend’. The idea of confession to a priest in the
Catholic religion is primarily meant to receive moral support for stress created by
some individual actions. Thus God, priests, family, friends can all be a source of
great comfort during times of stress.
Plan your life in advance: While the attitude of ‘whatever will be, will
be’ is a way to accept the unexpected difficulties in life, it is better to project
events in life and plan to confront them when they occur. Many times, people
create situations that induce stress because they either did not plan or they did a
bad job of planning. For example, students who plan the pace of their studies
during the semester seldom find exams excessively stressful. Accordingly, if we
plan the proper utilization of our resources of time and money, the chances are that
we will have less stress.

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Work Stress Physiological fitness: There is evidence to suggest that individuals who
exercise and so strengthen their endurance and cardiovascular system, are much
less likely to suffer from certain types of stress-related illnesses. As the correlation
between physical fitness and stress resistance has become clear, many organizations
NOTES have added facilities for physical exercise in their premises. With proper exercise,
diet control and non-smoking habits, blood pressure and cholesterol levels become
low and the body becomes more resistant to pressures. People are more likely to
get physically sick or emotionally depressed if they are overweight or poorly
nourished.
Yoga: During the last twenty-five years, there has been a growing interest in
yoga as a stress reduction strategy. The word ‘yoga’ means union and according
to Amarjit Sethi, it ‘implies union with the ultimate where the process of desiring
has come to an end and where stress is non-existent’. To a common man, yoga is
a structured set of exercises and body movements with deep breathing and mind
concentration, so that it is a way of getting away from the stressors. To a serious
student of yoga, it is a methodology to integrate body and mind forces to bring
them into a state of harmony with the ultimate goal of being in unison with the
Infinite. At the lower levels of physical and mental fitness, yoga consists of certain
postural habits (known as asanas) and these postures are non-dynamic, passive
and stable, resulting in increased flexibility of skeletal structure. This in turn stimulates
the nervous system. Accordingly, with proper ‘asanas’ and controlled breathing,
the neuromuscular coordination is strengthened, affecting glandular activity that is
responsible for physical as well as mental health. Thus the development of a sound
mind in a sound body improves the stress coping capabilities.
Meditation
Meditation involves concentration of mind away from stress producing areas, sitting
in a comfortable position, closing the eyes and clearing the mind from all disturbing
thoughts. Any form of concentration that redirects our thought processes away
from daily concerns can be considered meditation. Primarily, it involves silently
repeating a single syllable or ‘mantra’ over and over gain. This concentration on
‘mantra’ shuts out other distractions and results in physical and mental relaxation
at its peak. The place of meditation should be such that the meditator is not disturbed
by any outside force such as telephone, children or visitors. This technique was
popularised by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, an Indian mystic, and the method is known
as ‘transcendental meditation’ or TM.
Another form of meditation that has grown popular is Benson’s method or
‘relaxation response.’ This technique is similar to TM and is designed to elicit
‘relaxation response’ that is considered to be opposite to ‘stress response’. The
basic idea is to block extraneous and distracting thoughts from one’s mind. It is a
form of breathing meditation, where the meditator consciously thinks of a word or
a symbol on every out breath. The idea is to dwell upon a particular word or
sound or to gaze at a symbol or even concentrate on a particular feeling. Relaxation
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response should become an integral part of behaviour so that life stresses are Work Stress

effectively countered. Benson recommends ‘relaxation response’ breaks instead

of coffee breaks to rejuvenate workers.
Biofeedback: Biofeedback is a methodology designed to alter undesirable
NOTES
physiological responses through psychological strategies. Sophisticated electronic
instruments are used to measure small undesirable changes caused by stress. Then
a state of relaxation is induced in order to bring back such bodily functions to a
normal non-stress state. For example, whenever blood pressure is registered as
too high, individuals then try to relax to bring the blood pressure down. This tendency
to relax is voluntary on the part of the individual. The potential benefit of biofeedback
is the human ability to bring some of the bodily functions under voluntary control.
These functions include heart rates, brain waves, muscle tension, blood pressure
and stomach acidity. Changes in these functions are most often caused by stress.
By measuring these changes precisely through the system of biofeedback, an
individual can respond to these changes effectively. Thus stress management can
be voluntarily practiced by individuals.
Organizational Strategies for Coping with Stress
While it is necessary for individuals to design their own strategies to reduce stress
to an acceptable level, it is equally important for organizations to develop programs
that will help employees reduce their stress. This will help in controlling employee
turnover, absenteeism, and as a result, productivity will improve. Some of the
steps that organizations can take are:
Health maintenance: Many organizations provide facilities at their premises
for physical fitness such as gyms, swimming pools, as well as psychological
counselling. They hold seminars, workshops and lectures to help employees in
understanding the nature and sources of stress, its ramifications and possible ways
to reduce its negative effects. Workshops are designed in a manner that they are
therapeutic in nature to help individuals who are already experiencing stress
problems. Most programmes involve one or more of the following techniques:
biofeedback, meditation, muscular relaxation exercises, and skill training areas
such as time management, interpersonal skills, training to think positively about life
and its problems and looking at sources of stress realistically and analytically.
Selection and placement: The basic hiring process should be based upon
matching of skills, personality and work requirements. Being placed in a job that is
not compatible with your ability and temperament, can be highly frustrating and
stress producing. The applicants should be hired not only on the basis of educational
background and past relative experience but the criteria for selection could also
include the applicant’s ability to handle role ambiguity and role conflict when present.
Accordingly, during the process of hiring, some personality tests can be designed
to evaluate the candidate’s stamina for stress.
Job enrichment: Redesigning the job should be in such a manner as to use
the maximum potential of the employee with emphasis on employee involvement Self-Instructional
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Work Stress in such redesigning. This will help reduce stress caused by monotony, routine
work, role ambiguity, work overload or underload. Job enrichment enhances
motivation and leads to more challenging assignment, improved task significance,
more responsibility, more meaningful work and more control of the employee
NOTES over his own work environment. It also improves feedback to the employee
regarding his performance and this will reduce uncertainty. Since stress occurs
when work is important and there is some uncertainty surrounding it, a redesigned
job will help overcome this stress and enhance ‘quality of work life’.
Effective and equitable performance appraisal and reward systems:
It is necessary that performance be appraised in an objective and non-biased
manner and the rewards be clearly and proportionately related to performance.
The employee must know what is expected of him and for what exactly he is
responsible and accountable. This will reduce role conflict. Employees’ contribution
to the organization must be well recognised, appreciated and rewarded. This will
instil enthusiasm and a sense of dedication and belonging which in itself is a stress
fighting phenomenon. This also strengthens the bonds of interpersonal relationships
between the employees and the superiors and helps in clear and open
communication.
Participation in decision making: If the employees are invited to
participate in making decisions involving their own work setting, within the
organizational guidelines, this would make the employees feel that they are their
own boss, a factor that is associated with less negative reactions to stress.
Participation increases job involvement and reduces ambiguity and conflict—the
two stress producing agents. This would also result in closer cooperation among
superiors and subordinates and a better work environment, especially when the
superiors support their subordinates.
Building teamwork: The management must create a work environment
in which the members of the work group consider themselves as members of the
same family. There should be no provision for interpersonal conflict within the
group nor for conflict between an individual and the group. Such conflicts are
causes of stress and should be prevented from building or eliminated if they develop.
Accordingly, such groups should be developed that are more productive and
mutually supportive. Members of the group would seek each other for social
support, which is a necessary ingredient for diluting stress.

Check Your Progress

1. Define the term ‘stress’.
2. What are the various sources of stress?
3. What are the various strategies for reducing stress?
4. What are the steps any organization can take for coping with stress?

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 Work Stress
7.5 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
QUESTIONS

1. Stress is a state of mind that reflects certain biochemical reactions in the NOTES
human body and is projected by a sense of anxiety, tension and depression
and is caused by such demands by the environmental forces or internal
forces that cannot be met by the resources available to the person. The
intensity of such demands that require a readjustment of resources or
operational styles would determine the extent of stress.
2. There are two types of sources of stress: organizational sources and personal
sources. Organizational sources include role ambiguity, role conflict, role
overload, role underload, responsibility for people and lack of participation
where as personal sources include job concern relocation changes in life
structure.
3. Some of the stress re-adjusting strategies are reading life goals, physiological
fitness, yoga, meditation etc.
4. The various steps taken by any organization to reduce stress are: Health
maintenance, selection and placement, Job enrichment, participation in
decision making.

7.6 SUMMARY

 The general adaptation syndrome refers to a general development of

responses to stressful events in the form of physiological, psychological and
behavioural responses believed to follow a fairly consistent pattern.
 Frustration is a form of behaviour that occurs when a person wishes to
achieve a certain objective or pursue a certain course of action, but is
prevented from doing so. It refers to an obstruction or impediment to goal
oriented behaviour.
 A second form of stress is the ‘anxiety’ which is a feeling of inability and
helplessness in formulating appropriate responses or plans for dealing with
the anticipated negative outcomes.
 There are two major sources of stress. These are organizational sources
and personal sources.
 Role conflict occurs when two or more persons have different and sometimes
opposing expectation of a given individual.
 One of the major sources of stress in organizational setting is poor
interpersonal relationships, be it within the group or with superiors or
subordinates.

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Work Stress  The conditions that create stressful situations for employees are fairly constant
such as, fear of losing the job, work overload, lack of participation in
decisions regarding their own work environment, non-supportive
supervisors, and co-workers, limited job opportunities and so on.
NOTES
 High degree of stress is typically accompanied by severe anxiety, frustration
and depression. There is evidence that work stress is associated with heart
irregularities, high levels of blood pressure and high levels of cholesterol.
 One of the major concerns of management is the negative impact stress has
on performance.
 People under high stress tend to withdraw from the contact with the stressor
in the form of turnover and absenteeism. In extreme cases, it may result in
sabotage.
 The relationship between stress and performance appears to be rather
complex. It is affected by the difficulty of the task being performed, the
nature of the specific stressor involved and a wide range of personal and
situational factors.
 Job burnout is the extreme case of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion,
when stressors seem to be unavoidable and sources of relief seem to be
unavailable.
 It is necessary for individuals, as well as management to take steps to reduce
stress to acceptable levels.

7.7 KEY WORDS

 Stress: Stress is a state of mind that reflects certain biochemical reactions

in the human body and is projected by a sense of anxiety, tension and
depression and is caused by such demands by environmental or internal
forces that cannot be met by the resources available to the person.
 General adaption syndrome: The general adaption syndrome refers to a
general development of responses to stressful events in the form of
physiological, psychological and behavioural responses believed to follow
a fairly consistent pattern and consists of three stages: alarm, resistance,
exhaustion.
 Biofeedback: It is a methodology designed to alter undesirable physiological
responses through psychological strategies.
 Meditation: It is a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as
mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity
– to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and
emotionally calm and stable state.

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 Work Stress
7.8 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND
EXERCISES

Short-Answer Questions NOTES

1. What is the general adaptation syndrome?

2. List some of the sources of organizational stress.
3. What are some of the non-work stressors?
4. When does role conflict occur?
5. What is biofeedback?
Long-Answer Questions
1. Differentiate between ‘eustress’ and ‘distress.’ What factors are responsible
for causing ‘eustress’? Are these factors sudden developments or do they
develop gradually?
2. What are the various stages in the development of the general adaptation
syndrome and what responses can be developed to address each stage?
3. Explain in detail the physiological, psychological and behavioural responses
to stress.
4. Explain in detail various sources of stress specifically related to organizational
environment. How would you rank these sources in order of producing
various degrees of stress?
5. Differentiate between role ambiguity and role conflict. What steps can be
taken to eliminate this ambiguity and conflict so as to reduce stress?
6. How does responsibility for people become a source of stress? Would this
stress be reduced if employees were made more responsible for their own
activities? Support your reasons.
7. What are some of the personal factors that contribute to stress? Are these
personal factors genetic to some degree? If so, classify those factors that
are genetic in nature and those that are learned from the environment.
8. Explain in detail some of the consequences of job stress both in physiological
as well as psychological terms.
9. Explain in detail some of the personal strategies in coping with stress. Stress
the importance of each of these strategies.
10. Describe some of the organizational strategies in coping with stress. Stress
the importance of each of these strategies.

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Work Stress
7.9 FURTHER READINGS

Mishra, M.N. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Noida: Vikas Publishing House.

NOTES Robbins, Stephen P. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Davis, Keith. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Singh, Kavita. 2015. Organizational Behaviour: Text and Cases, 3rd Edition.
Noida: Vikas Publishing House.
Gordon, Judith R. 2001. Organizational Behavior: A Diagnostic. New Delhi:
Prentice Hall.
Aswathappa, K. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd.

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BLOCK - III
ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT

NOTES
UNIT 8 ORGANIZATIONAL
CHANGE
Structure
8.0 Introduction
8.1 Objectives
8.2 Meaning, Nature and Importance of Organizational Change
8.2.1 Importance of Organizational Change
8.2.2 Change Process
8.2.3 Factors Influencing Change
8.2.4 External and Internal Factors
8.3 Managing Change
8.4 Resistance to Change
8.5 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
8.6 Summary
8.7 Key Words
8.8 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
8.9 Further Readings

8.0 INTRODUCTION

In the previous unit, you studied about stress in the workplace. This unit deals with
the concept of organizational change. Change is a phenomenon that pushes us out
of our comfort zone. It is for the better or for the worse, depending on how it is
viewed. Change has an adjustment timeline that varies from person to person.
Change has a negative effect on those who do not want to let go. Being flexible is
the key. For instance, a roller coaster ride can symbolically be indicative of change—
it can be fun if you know when to lean and create balance. Change is not related to
the mantra ‘just hang in there’, but the mantra ‘you can make it’. It is not associated
with worrying. Change spurs you to achieve your best. It will cause you to learn.

8.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 Analyse the meaning and nature of organizational change
 Discuss the factors influencing change
 Differentiate between proactive and reactive change
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Organizational Change  Identify the steps which assist in managing organizational change
 State the sources of resistance to change

NOTES 8.2 MEANING, NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

If we see around us, life is changing every moment. Maya, the Sanskrit word,
means ‘life is an illusion’—the world around us is steady and not changing. A good
leader looks beyond the illusion of ‘changelessness’ and unearths opportunities
for change. There have been several passionate arguments put forward by
academics about which comes first—a change in attitude or a change in behaviour.
In organizational terms, this means do we help the people challenge their beliefs
and thus bring about behavioural change, or do we encourage them to experiment
with behavioural change in the hope that different results will revolutionize their
thinking. Well, the answer is both.
Change takes place even when employees do not believe it will. They may
not be susceptible to change or even detest the idea of behaving differently, but as
long as they stay open to the possibility, they are on the road to change. This is
because the act of doing something differently will start to influence their belief systems.
In addition, the response received from others will reinforce the new behaviour. For
example, a CEO of an organization might want to be less positioned, more flexible
and visibly vulnerable in looking for conflict resolutions vis-a-vis peers. However,
this CEO might have a dualistic approach to thinking—perceiving two alternatives
to every problem: ‘him’ or ‘they’. Thus, from this perspective, there could only be
one ‘winner’, and the CEO will obviously be determined to win.
The management should realize the value of effective employees’ cooperation
and collaboration, and motivation in the workplace. Before putting into practice a
change in an organization, managers should understand that different people hold
dissimilar opinions about change. Also, not all employees are candid and willing to
be straightforward with their managers. Therefore, managers should have the
initiative to interact with all employees and keep them informed about any
organizational change. By communicating and listening to employees, managers
can be aware of their unfulfilled needs and resistance to change. In other words,
the communication should be improved between managers and employees, in
places where employees are not too keen on change.
While implementing organizational change, managers should be able to
understand employees’ attitudes, but also they should keep in mind how the
employees feel. As leaders, managers should guide and direct employees along
the organizational change process, appreciate the significance of employees’
motivation to proceed with change, and be open to new ideas that come from
employees. Listening and explaining to employees is an essential process to convince
them about the projected benefits that are expected from the introduced change.
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 As soon as the change is implemented, managers should continue to Organizational Change

communicate with employees about the benefits of the new working environment.
This will promote an open exchange of ideas and information among all parties.
By being helpful, managers can discover to what extent change affects employees
and take remedial actions immediately to support them. For example, managers NOTES
should be aware that although organizational change impacts that bring positive
results into the industry do not necessarily bring about the same outcome to
employees. Change of a working system may increase employees’ income with
extra workload which can in turn creating fatigue and low spirits.
Levels of Change
There are various levels within the organizational domain where changes can be
brought about for operational enhancement of the organization as well as desirable
behaviour of members. The various types of changes that can have considerable
impact on the organizational culture are:
Strategic change: This is a change in the very mission of the organization.
A single mission may have to be changed to multiple missions. For example, when
British Airways acquired a major part of US Air, the culture of the entire organization
had to be modified to accommodate various aspects of American organizational
culture into the British organizational culture.
Structural change: Decentralized operations and participative management
style have been seen as more recent trends in the organizational structure. Since
these structural changes shift the authority and responsibility to generally lower
level management, it has a major impact on an organization’s social climate and
members have to be prepared to develop a team spirit as well as acquire skills to
make on-the-spot decisions at points of operations.
Process-oriented change: These changes relate to technological
developments, information processing, automation and use of robotics in the
manufacturing operations. This means replacing or retraining personnel, heavy
capital equipment investment and operational changes. This would affect the
organizational culture and hence changes in the behaviour patterns of members.
People-oriented change: Even though, any organizational change affects
people in some form, it is important that the behaviour and attitudes of the members
be predictable and in accordance with the expectations of the organization and be
consistent with the mission and policies of the enterprise. These changes are directed
towards performance improvement, group cohesion, dedication and loyalty to the
organization as well as developing a sense of self-actualization among the members.
These can be developed by closer interaction with employees and by special
behavioural training and modification sessions.
8.2.1 Importance of Organizational Change
This external environment affects the organizations both directly and indirectly.
The organizations have no control over the variables in such an environment. Self-Instructional
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Organizational Change Accordingly, the organizations cannot change the environment but must change
themselves to align with the environment.
External forces for change arise from general environment as well as from
task environment. The general environment that affects the organizations indirectly
NOTES
consists of economic, political, legal, socio-cultural and technological forces and
these forces keep the organizations alert so that they become aware of any changes
in the direction and momentum of these forces. For example, when due to oil
crisis, people started buying small fuel efficient cars from Japan, the American
automobile manufacturers who were accustomed to producing large luxury cars,
spent billions of dollars in the mid-1970s in retooling the new machinery to build
smaller cars. Similarly, changes in laws regarding control of air pollution or dumping
of chemical wastes and economical changes such as inflation rate, disposable
money supply, unemployment rate – all constitute sources of change for the
organizations. Social changes such as changes in the taste of clothing, or introduction
of laptop or notebook computers made many companies large and successful
while at the same time destroying many other companies who were slow or unwilling
to adapt to the change.
Task-related environment has direct influence on the health of the
organizations and it consists of customers, competitors, suppliers, labour,
stockholders and so on. All these factors can induce a change in the organizational
direction. Competitors can influence a change in an organization by the price
structure and product lines. Price wars in airline fares have driven many airlines
out of business. Stockholders can influence organizations because they can take
action against the board of directors if they feel that the board is not acting in their
best interests. Customers have been known to change their loyalty for better quality
product and better service. Accordingly, organizations cannot rest on status quo
and must remain dynamic and be able to change quickly to adjust to changed
environment.
8.2.2 Change Process
Managers who are interested in implementing change are required to be aware of
two important aspects of change: (1) Diagnosis and (2) Implementation
1. Diagnosis: The first, most important stage of any change effort is diagnosis.
Broadly defined, the skills of diagnosis include putting forward correct
questions at correct time, assessing the organizational culture, developing
the strategies for research and gathering information or data, and developing
ways to process and interpret data. In diagnosing change, managers should
attempt to find out: (a) what is actually happening now in a particular
situation; (b) what is likely to happen in the future if no change effort is
made; (c) what would people ideally want in a situation like this; and (d)
what are the blocks, or restraints, stopping movement from the actual to
the ideal.
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 There are two steps in the diagnostic process. These are discussed below. Organizational Change

(i) Point of view: There are various people whose interests have to be
protected by the organization. It is, therefore, necessary to decide
from whose point of view you are to observe the organization and
NOTES
from whose point of view the change should be implemented—your
own, your boss, your associates, your followers or an consultant?
Ideally, to assess the complete problem, you need to examine the
condition from the perspective of the person whose life would be
influenced by the change. Their interest is of great importance for an
organization to sustain and grow in the present fast-moving world.
(ii) Identification of problem(s): Any change effort begins with the
identification of problem(s). There exists a problem in a situation when
what actually happens (the real) differs from what, according to you,
should happen (the ideal). What is important is the end result that an
organization can offer to its customers. Is the work group functioning
in a harmonious manner? Is there a conflicting situation in the
organization? If the response is in the negative for the former and
positive in the latter, then there is a problem of behavioural nature and
suitable change efforts may be required sooner than later. Before
implementing any change, a leader will have to observe the battle
indications in the organization. High level of absenteeism, more wastage
in the use of raw materials, irrational behaviour of various employees,
and not meeting various targets are enough indications to show that a
problem exists, that it needs to diagnosed and the kind of change
required to be effected needs to be decided. The discrepancy may be
in the end result variables like low production or insufficient sales by
the marketing department. Alternatively, problems may exist in causal
factors, that is, the independent variables like leadership style, motivation
levels of the employees, or the delegation of authority and
empowerment. Depending upon the situation, suitable change
strategies may have to be employed by the organization.
2. Implementation: It involves using the data collected during diagnosis to
accomplish the targets and plan for the organizational change. Questions
such as the following must be asked: How can change be affected in a work
group or organization, and how will it be received? What is adaptive, and
what is resistant to change within the environment?
8.2.3 Factors Influencing Change
Change is inevitable. Nothing is permanent, except for change. It is the
management’s duty to see that change is managed properly. Organizations must
keep a watch on the environment and incorporate suitable changes that the situation
may demand. Change is a continuous phenomenon. Organizations must be proactive
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Organizational Change in effecting change. Even in the most stable organizations, change is necessary just
to maintain a certain level of stability. The major environmental forces that make
change necessary are technology, market forces and socio-economic factors.
Resistance to change is counterproductive for growth and destructive by nature; it
NOTES is, therefore, undesirable. Managers must, hence, evolve policies to effect change.
According to Barney and Griffin, ‘the primary reason cited for organizational
problems is the failure by managers to properly anticipate or respond to forces for
change’.
The following are the characteristics of change:
 Change refers to any alteration that occurs in the overall work environment
of an organization. It relates to changes in technology, organizational
structure, working processes, work environment, organizational policy
and the roles people play.
 The introduction of change in one part of an organization forces a change
in other parts of the organization. If the change is beneficial, people
accept it willingly. If it is not desirable, there is great resistance. If it is of
no consequence to the people, they may adopt an attitude of indifference.
 If they consider the change detrimental to their growth and prosperity,
they may resist through counter pressure. This reaction is based on their
perception of the change and not necessarily on reality or facts.
There are various factors that must be considered in order to implement
change. Organizations undergo change because of several reasons. Some of the
external causes are as follows:
 Government policies
 Economic changes
 Competition from peers
 Cost of raw materials
 Pressure groups/lobbies
 Information technology
 Scarcity of labour
 Societal pressures
 Legal requirements
Some of the internal causes are as follows:
 Leadership changes
 Decline in profitability
 Change in employee profiles
 Trade unionism
 Low morale
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 The organizational changes that are commonly seen in the contemporary Organizational Change

world are downsizing/rightsizing, introduction of new technology, mergers and

acquisitions.
8.2.4 External and Internal Factors NOTES
There are two major forces that introduce changes. These are:
1. External reasons
Technology is a major external force that calls for change. In recent times,
information technology (IT) has had a remarkable impact on the ability of managers
to use information to arrive at a decision. Storage, retrieval of information and its
utilization are important aspects of technology. Where human beings cannot operate,
robots has been introduced to work for and on behalf of human beings. Financial
decisions, operations, product features, new product development, market
potential and marketing strategies are changing at a fast pace and organizations
must carry out appropriate and timely change so as to avoid being left behind in
the race. With liberalization, the market has become one large entity. Organizations
must, therefore, be highly sensitive to changes in the external environment. The
external environment is task-related and general in nature. A task-related
environment has a direct influence on the health of an organization. It consists of
customers, competitors, suppliers, labour and stakeholders. All these factors induce
change in the organization. The general environment consists of political, legal,
economic, socio-cultural and technological forces and change in government policies
or fiscal policies that have a direct impact on the organization. For example, a
change in the needs, expectations and desires of society for housing has changed
the outlook of the financial sector and loans are now easily available to all sections
of society.
2. Internal reasons
Once organizations adapt to external change, the managers have to take appropriate
steps as far as internal systems are concerned—change of process, modification
to human behaviour, training and development of the workforce based on new
technology and adopting new policies that are beneficial to the organization. Owing
to current social changes in which women are taking up jobs in greater numbers,
childcare, more and frequent rest periods and greater flexibility of time may be
necessary. Workers are more educated and are aware of their duties and rights.
This may necessitate change in corporate policies towards wage and salary structure
and implementation, promotion policy and management obligation towards them.
Customers, shareholders, boards of directors and employees may bring about
changes in the internal environment. These, however, have to be in line with the
external factors and not arbitrary. Change, which is deliberately designed and
implemented, is ‘planned change’. This is carried out to counter threats and encash
opportunities. ‘Reactive changes’ are unknown and caused as a response to sudden
surprises like change in price of a particular product. It is, therefore, necessary
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Organizational Change that the management is ‘proactive’ in incorporating change with fewer surprises. It
must build on the organization’s strengths and take appropriate preventive actions
on its weaknesses in order to be competitive in the marketplace.

NOTES Proactive Vs. Reaction Change

According to Nadler, discontinuous change involves a break from the past and a
major reconstruction of the entire organization. Reactive change occurs when an
organization must respond to environmental changes. Nadler et al., refer to
anticipatory change as occurring when an organization acts in anticipation of
changes that may occur in the future. Whereas incremental and discontinuous
changes refer to the continuity of change, reactive and anticipatory changes address
the timing of it. These four types of change also differ by their driving force, focus,
pacing, and approach to management, and each has different implications for
organizational behaviour. For instance, an organization that experiences both
reactive and incremental change typically expresses an adaptive behaviour, whereas
an organization experiencing discontinuous and anticipatory change may focus on
reorienting itself by fundamentally redefining itself. Unplanned change usually occurs
because of a major, sudden surprise to the organization, which causes its members
to respond in a highly reactive and disorganized fashion. Unplanned change might
occur when the Chief Executive Officer suddenly leaves the organization, significant
public relations problems occur, poor product performance quickly results in loss
of customers, or other disruptive situations arise. Planned change occurs when
leaders in the organization recognize the need for a major change and proactively
organize a plan to accomplish the change. Planned change occurs with successful
implementation of a Strategic Plan, plan for reorganization, or other implementation
of a change of this magnitude. Note that planned change, even though based on a
proactive and well done plan, often does not occur in a highly organized fashion.
Instead, planned change tends to occur in more of a chaotic and disruptive fashion
than expected by participants.
Stability vs. Change
In every organization, there are found two types of forces: forces of stability and
forces of change. In depends on the management to find a balance between the
two or give more priority to one and less to another.
Three factors make up the forces of stability in an organization: consistency,
maintaining the status quo and predictability. The strategic vision and process are
very clearly prescribed and followed within a set structure in such organizations.
Some examples of forces of stability are: Mature company hierarchy, Job security,
Logical order and flow, Continuity in task or project management, Predictability
in role’s responsibilities, Confidence in taking risks to find solutions, Formalization
of policies and procedures and Consistency and standardization in work.
The factors which define the forces of change in an organization are flexibility
and adaptability. These types of organization are more insistent on innovating,
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setting themselves apart and improving at every stage. Some examples of forces Organizational Change

of change in an organization are exploring opportunities for growth and

development, adapting to customer feedback, analysing and facing competitive
pressure, seeking out creative solutions to problems or challenges, innovating to
improve employees or the organization and expanding into new areas internally or NOTES
externally.
It becomes the duty of the manager to balance the two forces in the
organization as per the broad organizational objectives and vision.

Check Your Progress

1. What is strategic change?
2. What does task-related environment consists of?
3. When does reactive change occur?

8.3 MANAGING CHANGE

Organizations must plan to implement change in a systematic manner. They must

identify the field in which the change is required and ascertain whether it is strategic,
structural, process-oriented or cultural. Changes can also be affected in all the
areas concurrently, but it must be managed appropriately so that there is no
bottleneck effect. Once the need for change is identified as also the area in which
it is to be implemented, the following steps are suggested:
Step 1—Develop new goals and objectives
Objectives and goals that are derived out of mission statements may need revision
due to changes in external or internal forces.
Step 2—Elect an agent for change
It is the responsibility of the management to entrust execution of change to the
appropriate authority. A manager may be given this responsibility. A change agent
can also be employed from outside for the purpose. A specialist or a consultant
can be brought in to suggest change and monitor implementation.
Step 3—Diagnose the problem
Diagnosis is the first step implementing change. If an organization has a large
employee turnover, then the data must be collected and made available to the
consultant so that the reasons for turnover can be identified and appropriate
corrective measures can be selected. The process of identifying a problem is not
as simple as it appears. This itself may need research.
Step 4—Select a methodology
It is easy, in corporate terms, to implement material change as a part of change in
the system. What is important is to protect the emotions of the employees which
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Organizational Change must be considered during the selection of methods, so that it is easier to implement
at a later stage.
Step 5—Develop a plan
NOTES If the organization wants to reduce employee turnover, it may carry out a
comparative study of other organizations with respect to job content, reward
system, employee performance appraisal system, promotion criteria, training and
development and the strategy adopted by the organization for its growth. Based
on the examination of these factors, the consultant in charge of this would be able
to develop a plan for change. It may require introducing a new training and
development policy that can reduce employee turnover. While developing a plan,
various other factors must also be reviewed. Plans should not be finalized in
isolation. All department heads must be co-opted in the exercise.
Step 6—Draw a strategy for implementation
Care must be taken to consider the timing of any change that is to be implemented.
A deliberate decision must be taken in this regard. For example, in the case of a
hike in the price of a product, the decision to implement change is critical. If the
change is related to internal employees, it must be communicated at an appropriate
time so that there is no resistance to planned change.
Step 7—Implement the plan
Once the decision to implement the plan and the mode by which the plan is to be
implemented is decided, it is the responsibility of the various departments to
implement the same. This may need notification, briefing sessions or inhouse seminars
so as to ensure the acceptance of all members of the organizations, especially
those who are likely to get affected. Implementation may be for a short duration
as a one-time change of system or process but its aftermath is of great value.
Employee reactions in terms of attitudes, aspirations, emotions and behaviour
must be channelized in positive directions with change.
Step 8—Evaluate and give feedback
The result of the change must be evaluated and suitable feedback given. If
modification to training and development causes a decrease in employee turnover,
the objective of the change would be deemed to have been achieved. If the results
are contrary to expectation, then a new change may be required to diagnose the
cause.

8.4 RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

Although organizations initiate changes in order to adjust to the changes in their

environments but people sometimes resist them. Therefore, managers need to
recognize the manifestations of resistance both in themselves and in others, if they
want to be more effective in supporting change.

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 The sources of resistance to change within organizations are classified into Organizational Change

organizational sources of resistance and individual sources of resistance.

Organizational Sources of Resistance
According to Daniel Kantz and Robert L Khan, organizational sources of resistance NOTES
can be divided into following six general groups.
1. Over determination or structural inertia refers to the tendency of an
organization’s rules, policies and structure to maintain the existing conditions
and therefore resist change even when change would benefit the organization
more than stability.
2. When an organization tries to change one of its division or part of the division
without recognizing the interdependence of the division with other divisions
of the organization, then it is said to have a narrow focus of change. Often a
part of division cannot be changed without changing the whole division.
3. Group inertia may weaken an individual’s attempt to bring about change.
4. Resistance may also take the form of threatened expertise if the change
tends to weaken special expertise built after years of experience.
Organizational restructuring that involves reducing the number of job
categories often meets this kind of resistance.
5. Any change that may alter the power relationships within an organization
may meet the form of resistance known as ‘threatened power’.
6. Resistance may occur when a change threatens quantum of resource
allocation from one part of the organization to another.
Individual Sources of Resistance
According to researchers, individuals have the following reasons for resisting change:
 Simple habits create a lot of resistance. Most people prefer to do their
work the way they did it last week rather than learn a new approach.
 Perhaps the biggest cause of employee resistance to change is uncertainty.
In the face of impending change, employees are likely to become anxious
and nervous. They worry about their ability to meet new job demands
therefore, leading to feeling of job insecurity.
 Some people resist change to avoid feeling of loss. For example, many
organizations change interventions and alter work arrangements, thus
disrupting existing social networks. Social relationships are important to
most people, so they resist any change that might adversely affect those
relationships. Change may also threaten people’s feelings of familiarity and
self-confidence.
 People may resist change because their perceptions of underlying
circumstances differ from the perceptions of those who are promoting the
change.
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Organizational Change Overcoming Resistance to Change
Managers need not abandon planned change in the face of resistance. Before
recommending specific approaches to overcome resistance, there are three key
NOTES conclusions that should be kept in mind. First, an organization must be ready for
change. Second, the top management should inform the employees about the
process of change. Third, the employees’ perceptions or interpretations of a change
should be considered.
The following methods of overcoming resistance to change are as follows:
 Participation: Participation is generally considered the most effective
technique for overcoming resistance to change. Employees who take
part in planning and implementing change are better able to understand
the reasons for the change than those who are not involved. They become
committed to the change and make it work. Employees who have the
opportunity to express their own ideas and to understand the perspectives
of others are likely to accept change gracefully. It is a time consuming
process.
 Education and communication: Educating employees about the need
for and the expected results of an impending change help reduce their
resistance. Managers should maintain an open channel of communication
while planning and implementing change. However, it is also a time
consuming process.
 Facilitation of change: Knowing ahead of time that employees are
likely to resist change then the manager should do as much as possible
to help them cope with uncertainty and feeling of loss. Introducing change
gradually, making only necessary changes, announcing changes in
advance and allowing time for people to adjust to new ways of doing
things can help reduce resistance.
 Force-field analysis: In almost any situation where a change is being
planned, there are forces acting for and against the change. In force-
field analysis, the managers list each set of forces and then try to remove
or minimize some of the forces acting against the change.
 Negotiation: Where someone or some group will clearly lose out in a
change and where that group has considerable power to resist, there
negotiation is required. Sometimes it is a relatively easy way to avoid
major resistance.
 Manipulation and cooperation: This is followed when other tactics
will not work or are too expensive. It can be quick and inexpensive.
However, it can lead to further problems if people feel manipulated.
 Explicit and implicit coercion: This is adopted where speed is essential
and where the change initiators possess considerable power. It is speedy
and can overcome resistance.
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 Each of the above methods has its advantages and disadvantages. There is Organizational Change

no universal strategy for overcoming resistance to change. Hence, an organization

that plans to introduce certain changes must be prepared to face resistance from
its employees. An organization should also have a planned approach to overcome
such resistances. NOTES

Check Your Progress

4. What is the first step of managing change within an organization?
5. What is generally considered the most effective technique for overcoming
resistance to change?

8.5 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

QUESTIONS

1. Strategic change is a change in the very mission of the organization.

2. Task-related environment has direct influence on the health of the
organizations and it consists of customers, competitors, suppliers, labour,
stockholders and so on.
3. Reactive change occurs when an organization must respond to environmental
changes.
4. The first step to managing change is to develop new goals and objectives.
5. Participation is generally considered the most effective technique for
overcoming resistance to change.

8.6 SUMMARY

 Change is a phenomenon that pushes us out of our comfort zone. It is for

the better or for the worse, depending on how it is viewed. Change has an
adjustment timeline that varies from person to person.
 A good leader looks beyond the illusion of ‘changelessness’ and unearths
opportunities for change.
 The management should realize the value of effective employees’ cooperation
and collaboration, and motivation in the workplace. Before putting into
practice a change in an organization, managers should understand that
different people hold dissimilar opinions about change.
 There are various levels within the organizational domain where changes
can be brought about for operational enhancement of the organization as
well as desirable behaviour of members.

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Organizational Change  This external environment affects the organizations both directly and indirectly.
The organizations have no control over the variables in such an environment.
Accordingly, the organizations cannot change the environment but must
change themselves to align with the environment.
NOTES
 Managers who are interested in implementing change are required to be
aware of two important aspects of change: (1) Diagnosis and (2)
Implementation.
 Change is inevitable. Nothing is permanent, except for change. It is the
management’s duty to see that change is managed properly.
 Technology is a major external force that calls for change. In recent times,
information technology (IT) has had a remarkable impact on the ability of
managers to use information to arrive at a decision.
 According to Nadler discontinuous change involves a break from the past
and a major reconstruction of the entire organization.
 Organizations must plan to implement change in a systematic manner. They
must identify the field in which the change is required and ascertain whether
it is strategic, structural, process-oriented or cultural.
 Although organizations initiate changes in order to adjust to the changes in
their environments but people sometimes resist them.
 Managers need not abandon planned change in the face of resistance. Before
recommending specific approaches to overcome resistance, there are three
key conclusions that should be kept in mind.

8.7 KEY WORDS

 Change: It is defined as the act or process of doing something different.

 Stakeholder: It is a party that has an interest in a business enterprise and
can either affect or be affected by the business.
 Equilibrium: It is a balance between several different influences or aspects
of a situation.
 Negotiation: It is a strategic discussion that involves two or more parties
that resolves an issue in a way that each party finds acceptable.

8.8 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND

EXERCISES

Short-Answer Questions
1. Briefly mention the different levels of change.

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 2. What are the causes of change? Organizational Change

3. Mention the steps which facilitate in managing organizational change.

Long-Answer Questions
NOTES
1. Evaluate the importance of organizational change.
2. Discuss the process of change.
3. Distinguish between proactive and reactive change.
4. What are the organizational sources of resistance to change? Discuss.
5. Explain the methods applied for overcoming resistance to change.

8.9 FURTHER READINGS

Mishra, M.N. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Noida: Vikas Publishing House.

Robbins, Stephen P. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Davis, Keith. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Singh, Kavita. 2015. Organizational Behaviour: Text and Cases, 3rd Edition.
Noida: Vikas Publishing House.
Gordon, Judith R. 2001. Organizational Behavior: A Diagnostic. New Delhi:
Prentice Hall.
Aswathappa, K. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd.

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Organizational
Development
UNIT 9 ORGANIZATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
NOTES
Structure
9.0 Introduction
9.1 Objectives
9.2 Organizational Development: Objectives, Evaluation and Follow-Up
9.2.1 Merits and Demerits of Organizational Development
9.3 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
9.4 Summary
9.5 Key Words
9.6 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
9.7 Further Readings

9.0 INTRODUCTION

In the previous unit, you learnt about organizational change. In this unit, you will
learn about organizational development (OD). The term ‘Organization
Development’ was coined by Richard Beckhard in the mid-1950s, as a response
to the need for integrating organizational needs with individual needs. OD came
into prominence in the 1960s and grew in response to needs. OD is a strategy of
intervention in which group processes focus on the entire culture of an organization
so that a planned change could be brought about. According to Harold M. F.
Rush, OD ‘seeks to change beliefs, attitudes, values, structures and practices so
that the organization can better adapt to technology and live with the fast pace of
change’. It seeks to use behavioural science knowledge to help organizations to
adjust more rapidly to change.

9.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 Discuss the meaning, nature and scope of organizational development
 Examine the merits and demerits of organizational development
 Describe the different phases of organizational development intervention

9.2 ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

OBJECTIVES, EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP

Organization development is an intervention strategy in which group processes

are used to focus on the entire culture of development of an organization, so that
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a planned change would be brought about. It makes use of laboratory training Organizational
Development
approaches, such as role-playing, management games and sensitivity training. It is
important from the perspectives of society, customers and the workers themselves
because overall costs are reduced that may result in reduction of wastage of human
effort. In addition, the quality of the product improves and a more effective NOTES
organizational climate is developed. Wendell L. French and Cecil H. Bell Jr., traced
the development of OD to the pioneering effort of the National Training Laboratories
and Esso Standard Oil Company, who began working on the problem of building
better organizations and eventually OD evolved from their effort. There were two
main reasons that made OD necessary; they are:
 The reward structure on the job did not adequately reinforce conventional
training, so it often failed to carry over to the job.
 The second cause was the fast pace of change itself, which required
organizations to be extremely effective in order to survive and prosper.
OD attempts to develop the whole organization so that it can respond to
change more uniformly and capably. OD has its own shortcomings; Beckhard
described the dilemma of integrating organizational needs with individual needs.
Meaning of Organization Development (OD)
Organization development is a strategy for organizational improvement. The term
‘Organization development’ (OD) may be defined as a technique for changing the
entire organization.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, OD emerged out of insights from group
dynamics and from the theory and practice of planned changes. Organization
development deals in the way people and organizations function and the way to
make them work better. OD programmes are long term, planned, sustained efforts.
They are based on the knowledge of behavioural science disciplines such as
psychology, social psychology, sociology, anthropology, systems theory,
organizational behaviour, organization theory and management. The two major
goals of OD programmes are:
(i) To better the working of individuals, teams and the entire organization
(ii) To teach organization members how to continuously improve their
own functioning
It is a modern approach to the management of change and the development
of human resources. It is an organization-wide planned change for improvement,
through the use of behavioural science techniques. A healthier decision-making
climate is promoted by organizational programmes that leads to improved
organizational performance.

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Organizational Objectives and Role of OD Programmes
Development
The objectives of OD, as given by Wendell French are as follows:
 To build and enhance inter-personal trust, communication, cooperation and
NOTES support among all individuals and groups throughout an organization
 To encourage an analytical problem-solving approach with a team spirit
 To enhance the sense of belonging of individuals to an organization so that
individual and organizational goals are synchronized
 To extend the process of decision-making to the lowest operational level
 To increase personal responsibility for planning and implementation
Features and Basic Assumptions of OD
The assumptions underlying OD programmes are
1. Assumptions of dealing with individuals: The two basic assumptions
about individuals in organizations are:
(a) Most individuals have drives towards personal growth and
development. They want to develop their potential and ought therefore
to be provided with an environment that is both supportive and
challenging. In other words, an individual often wants to grow and
develop as a person; this is stimulated and promoted by a supportive
and challenging work environment.
(b) Most people desire to make and are capable of making, a greater
contribution to attaining organization goals than most organizational
environments permit. The implication of this assumption is that people
have expertise. Organizations must remove obstacles and barriers and
reward success.
2. Assumptions of dealing with groups: These assumptions relate to the
importance of work teams:
(a) The most psychologically relevant reference group for most people is
the work group. The work group greatly influences feelings of
satisfaction and competence. Therefore, individual goals should be
integrated into the group’s goals.
(b) Most people interact cooperatively with at least one small reference
group.
(c) Work groups are the best way to satisfy social and emotional needs
at work. Consequently, work groups that are supportive, open and
trusting will promote personal growth of an individual.
(d) Often, individuals repress their feelings about work or colleagues,
because they do not want to disbalance their work environment.
However, this has an opposite effect as repressed feelings greatly
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 affect a person’s problem-solving skills, personal growth, and overall Organizational
Development
satisfaction with work. Attitudinal and motivational problems in
organizations require interactive and transactional solutions. Such
problems have the greatest chance of a constructive solution if all parties
in the system alter their mutual relationship. Cooperation is always NOTES
more effective than conflicts.
3. Assumptions for designing organizations: These assumptions relate to
the importance of designing organizations. The following points may be
considered:
(a) Traditional hierarchical forms of organizations are obsolete. Therefore,
experimenting with new organization structures and new forms of
authority is imperative (very important/essential); creating cooperative
rather than competitive organizational dynamics is a primary task of
an organization.
(b) An optimistic, developmental set of assumptions about people is likely
to reap rewards beneficial to both, an organization and its members.
Cooperation is always more beneficial.
(c) Money or capital is not the most important resource of any organization,
but its employees. Employees’ work affects productivity and so they
must be treated carefully. An organization can achieve higher
productivity only when the individual goals are integrated with
organizational goals.
Nature and Scope
The main purpose of OD, according to Burton, is ‘to bring about a system of
organizational renewal that can effectively cope with environmental changes. In
doing so, OD strives to maximize organizational effectiveness as well as individual
work satisfaction.’ Organizational development is the most comprehensive strategy
for intervention. It involves all the activities and levels of management in ongoing
problems that respond to external and internal sources.
Warner Burke described the following phases of an OD programme:
1. Entry: Entry represents the initial contact between consultant and client.
It also examines the reasons that led to the selection of the consultant. It
further determines the problem of the client that the consultant is hired to
resolve, the opportunities that the organization is within to cash is on,
and the smooth working relationship that should prevail.
2. Contracting: This refers to establishing mutual expectations; reaching
agreements on expenditure of time, money, resources, and energy; and
generally clarifying mutual expectations.
3. Diagnosis: This involves the identification of the slot where the problem
arises by way of carrying out data collection and interpreting the same.
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Organizational It may be related to the department, the system, processes, the culture
Development
modification or the organizational is returned.
4. Feedback: In this phase, the analyzed information is returned to the
client system and solution to the problem and its application explored.
NOTES
Thrust between the client and the specialist information is nurtured and
extent the problem resolved and opportunities realized is ascertained.
5. Planning change: In this phase, the client decides what actions are to
be taken; what alternatives are available and a critical analysis of the
possibilities is conducted. The action plan is devised/selected from among
the available and implemented.
6. Intervention: The action plan that is finally selected is implemented at
this stage.
7. Evaluation: Assessing the results of the OD programme its success,
changes in the organization structure, processes, systems, job design,
and the total difference made to the organization are assessed. The overall
OD programme is evaluated.
Organizational Effectiveness
Since successful OD efforts must have made meaningful changes in the performance
and efficiency of the people and the organization, we need to have an evaluation
procedure to verify this success; identify needs for new or continuing OD activities,
and improve the OD process itself to help make future interventions more successful.
9.2.1 Merits and Demerits of Organizational Development
Workforce mobility and diversity are creating new employee needs along with
new expectations about the work culture, and these needs, too, have to be
systematically understood and responded to. HR leaders would be enjoined upon
to become effective strategic partners in the creation of world class learning culture.
Indian organizations are no exception to these compulsions. Today, they
face numerous challenges and complexities, operating, as they do, in a highly volatile
political and economic environment. The current environment demands more
systems-driven change without undermining the emphasis on people and
relationship-oriented changes. Indian economy is increasingly getting integrated
with the global economies both structurally and psychologically. Silicon Valley of
US led to Silicon Valley pockets in Bangalore and Hyderabad. The styles of living
and the ways of interactions in several organizations are driven by what was
happening in the west from day one.
Most Indian organizations have been more oriented towards their people
and relationships rather than being driven by the systems. However, with the
upcoming global competition, it is extremely important that Indian organizations

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should also stand up to face this competition in a highly competitive manner. The Organizational
Development
change has to be in a direction where the organizations need to move away from
borrowed technologies to their own technological development and concentrated
efforts on research and development. Additionally, there is a need to also drift
away from relationship and people, driven organizations to more competent, skilled NOTES
and professional employees who are rather system driven. Thus, there is an emergent
need for organizational development in most Indian organizations.
Some of the merits or advantages of organizational development are as
follows:
 Change throughout the organization: As a result of OD programs,
development activities are undertaken throughout the whole organization.
 Greater motivation: The completion of an organizational development
program results in increased motivation in the organization.
 Increased productivity: Research has shown that the completion of
organizational development programs result in increase in productivity
in employees. .
 Better quality of work: OD programs leads to better quality of work.
 Improved teamwork: The completion of OD programs results in
improved teamwork among employees.
 Increased willingness to change: OD program creates the awareness
to accept change without resistance.
 Reduces absences: Absenteeism is reduced and employees attend
the office and work in time which leads to high productivity.
 Lower turnover: Turnover is one of the problems of an organization
through OD program employee turnover rate becomes lower.
Despite these advantages, organizational development also has certain
demerits. These are:
 Major time requirements: OD programs take a long time to complete.
 Substantial expenditure: An organizational development program requires
huge expenditure on part of the company.
 Delayed pay off period: In some cases, the OD program is affected
by delayed pay off period. That is why some organizations become
reluctant.
 Emphasis on group process: Very often the emphasis is laid on group
process. If the group does not mean so or take it seriously, the OD
program is affected.
 Difficulty in evaluation: It is difficult to evaluate OD programs. This
makes organizations reluctant to undergo them.

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Organizational
Development
Check Your Progress
1. Who coined the term ‘organizational development’?
NOTES 2. What is the main purpose of OD?
3. List one demerit of OD.

9.3 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

QUESTIONS

1. The term ‘organizational development’ was coined by Richard Beckhard in

the mid-1950s.
2. The main purpose of OD, according to Burton, is ‘to bring about a system
of organizational renewal that can effectively cope with environmental
changes.
3. One demerit of OD is that it is very difficult to evaluate OD programs. This
makes organizations reluctant to undergo them.

9.4 SUMMARY

 The term ‘Organization Development’ (OD) was coined by Richard

Beckhard in the mid-1950s, as a response to the need for integrating
organizational needs with individual needs.
 Organization development is an intervention strategy in which group
processes are used to focus on the entire culture of development of an
organization, so that a planned change would be brought about.
 According to Wendell L. French and Cecil H. Bell, Jr., ‘Organization
Development is a systematic process for applying behavioural science
principles and practices in organizations to increase individual and
organizational effectiveness.’
 The main purpose of OD, according to Burton, is ‘to bring about a system
of organizational renewal that can effectively cope with environmental
changes. In doing so, OD strives to maximize organizational effectiveness
as well as individual work satisfaction.’
 Workforce mobility and diversity are creating new employee needs along
with new expectations about the work culture, and these needs, too, have
to be systematically understood and responded to.
 Most Indian organizations have been more oriented towards their people
and relationships rather than being driven by the systems. However, with
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 the upcoming global competition, it is extremely important that Indian Organizational
Development
organizations should also stand up to face this competition in a highly
competitive manner.

NOTES
9.5 KEY WORDS

 Contracting: This refers to establishing mutual expectations; reaching

agreements on expenditure of time, money, resources, and energy; and
generally clarifying mutual expectations.
 Turnover: It means the rate at which employees leave a workforce and
are replaced.
 Productivity: It refers to the effectiveness of productive effort, especially
in industry, as measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input.

9.6 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND

EXERCISES

Short-Answer Questions
1. Define organizational development.
2. What are the objectives of OD programmes?
Long-Answer Questions
1. Explain the features of an OD programmes.
2. Describe the merits and demerits of organizational development.

9.7 FURTHER READINGS

Mishra, M.N. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Noida: Vikas Publishing House.

Robbins, Stephen P. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Davis, Keith. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Singh, Kavita. 2015. Organizational Behaviour: Text and Cases, 3rd Edition.
Noida: Vikas Publishing House.
Gordon, Judith R. 2001. Organizational Behavior: A Diagnostic. New Delhi:
Prentice Hall.
Aswathappa, K. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd.

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Organizational Culture
and Climate BLOCK - IV
ORGANISATION AND ITS ENVIRONMENT

NOTES
UNIT 10 ORGANIZATIONAL
CULTURE AND CLIMATE
Structure
10.0 Introduction
10.1 Objectives
10.2 Types and Determinants of Organizational Culture
10.3 Changing Organizational Culture
10.4 Impact of Organizational Climate and Culture
10.5 Determinants of Organizational Climate
10.6 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
10.7 Summary
10.8 Key Words
10.9 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
10.10 Further Readings

10.0 INTRODUCTION

Organizational culture is a system of shared beliefs and attitudes that develop within
an organization and guides the behaviour of its members. It is also known as
corporate culture, and has a major impact on the performance of organizations
and especially on the quality of work life experienced by the employees at all levels
of the organizational hierarchy. The corporate culture consists of the norms, values
and unwritten rules of conduct of an organization as well as management styles,
priorities, beliefs and interpersonal behaviours that prevail. Together they create a
climate that influences how well people communicate, plan and make decisions.
Strong corporate values let people know what is expected of them. There are clear
guidelines as to how employees are to behave generally within the organization
and their expected code of conduct outside the organization. Also, if the employees
understand the basic philosophy of the organization, then they are more likely to
make decisions that will support these standards set by the organization and
reinforce corporate values.

10.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 Define organizational culture
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122 Material
  Discuss the creation and maintenance of culture Organizational Culture
and Climate
 Examine the theories of organizational culture
 Discuss organizational climate and its determinants
NOTES
10.2 TYPES AND DETERMINANTS OF
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

While culture has been a continuous development of values and attitudes over many
generations, at least the organizational culture can be partially traced back to the
values held by the founders of the organization. Such founders are usually dynamic
personalities with strong values and a clear vision as to where they want to take
their organizations. These founders usually selected their associates and their
employees who had a similar value system so that these values became an integral
part of the organization.
Secondly, the organizational culture is influenced by the external environment
and the interaction between the organization and the external environment. For
example, one organization may create a niche for itself for extremely high quality
defect-free product as a result of competitive forces and customer demand, while
another organization may opt for moderate quality but lower prices. The work
cultures at these two types of organizations would accordingly differ and would be
influenced by external forces such as customer demand.
Thirdly, work culture is also a function of the nature of the work and mission
and the goals of the organization. For example, in a professional, research oriented
small organization, the workers may be more informal at all hierarchical levels of
the organization, the dress code may not be strictly observed and the employees
may be encouraged to be independent and innovative. In contrast, other
organizations may have a strictly enforced formal classical hierarchical structure
with clearly established channels of communications and strict adherence to work
rules. Accordingly, the organizational culture of these two types of organizations
would be different.
Much has been written and talked about Japanese management styles. Almost
invariably, the economic success of Japanese society is associated with Japanese
culture. The cultural aspect of organizational performance came into focus with
Theory Z, proposed by William Ouchi in 1981. Even though Theory Z draws heavily
on Japanese approach to management, it is more a combination of the current
American as well as Japanese style of managing an organization. Basically, Ouchi’s
approach to management calls for:
 Consensus decision-making.
 Worker participation in all phases of organizational operations.
 Genuine concern for the overall well-being of employees.
 Life time job security.
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Organizational Culture The importance of strong culture as a driving force for organizational success
and Climate
was emphasised by Peters and Waterman in their well-received book, In Search
of Excellence. They observed:
Without exception, the dominance and coherence of culture proved
NOTES to be an essential quality of the excellent companies. Moreover, the
stronger the culture and the more it was directed towards the
marketplace, the less need was there for policy manuals, organization
charts and detailed procedures and rules. In these companies, people,
way down the line know what they are supposed to do in most
situations because the handful of guiding values is crystal clear.
Some of the cultural differences in a typical American organization as
compared to a typical Japanese organization can be seen in the following comparison
in various areas and aspects of organizational operations and performance.
Organizational Climate
The process of quantifying culture in an organization is called organizational climate.
This is also referred as corporate culture. According to this process, an employee’s
behaviour is influenced by a set of guidelines laid down by the organization.
There are different approaches to define organizational climate, which are
based on how to define climate and how to measure it effectively on different stages.
These two approaches are as follows:
 Cognitive Schema
 Shared perception
The cognitive schema approach regards climate as an individual perception
and as the work of environment. Therefore, according to this perspective climate
assessments should be covered individually. The shared perception approach on
the other hand gives importance to other perceptions vis-à-vis climate and has also
been defined as the shared perception of the way things are around here. It is to
be noted that there are major overlaps in both the approaches.
 Cognitive schema approach: Schemas are known to be mental
structures that perceive the world. They are said to be organized in
memory of associative network in which schemes of similar nature are
clubbed together. Thus, when a particular schema is activated, the relating
schemes will get activated too. Relative schemes become more
accessible in the associative network. If the schema is more accessible
it can be used directly and quickly to a particular situation. When related
schemas are activated they tend to influence social behaviour. However,
it is also important to know that a person may or may not be aware when
a schema is activated.
Accessibility of schema is increased by the process of salience and
priming. Salience can be defined as the degree to which one social object
stands out in respect to other social objects in a given situation. This
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 means that the higher the salience of a social object, more accessibility Organizational Culture
and Climate
will be there for the related schemas whereas priming refers to
experiences prior to a situation that make a schema more accessible.
 Shared perception approach: This approach discusses the variables
NOTES
which influence an organization’s ability to mobilize their employees in
order to get their business targets met and also to maximize employee
performance. Under this model, the staff of an organization is surveyed
to identify and measure aspects of a workplace which affects the quality
of work life.
Creation and Maintenance of Culture
The traditions and way of life of the employees create culture in an organization.
The organizational culture is known by its employees’ behaviour and attitudes. The
early traditions are the basis of culture in an organization. The vision and functions
of an organisation are the creators of culture. Accumulated traditions and methods
of functions are culture. The ideology and customs of organisational functions are
organisational culture. An organisation develops progressive ideas and technological
development for forming a good culture in an organisation. The mission and vision
of the founder members of an organisation are the basis for creating the
organisational culture. Hard work, competitive spirit and a disciplined way of life
of the founders have created a disciplined organisational culture for improving the
performance. The vision of Ratan Tata and Ghanshyam Das Birla has created the
Tata culture and Birla culture respectively in the Tata Group and the Birla
Group. They are known by their organisational culture.
Sustaining Culture
Sustaining and maintaining culture is essential for the organisation to make it a
permanent source of energy. The experience gained by predecessors must be
continued by the subsequent successors. An improvement for the better must be
introduced into the existing culture. Reinforcement of learning, performance
evaluation criteria, reward system, promotion procedures, etc. should be continued
as it existed in the vision of the founders. Maintaining the culture does not mean
that the organisations should adhere to a cultural paradox. The changing environment
is absorbed in the dynamic culture of an organisation. The top management,
selection, training-- and development programme and socialisation are the important
methods of sustaining culture.
Top management: The attitudes of the top management should continue
to guide the organisational functions. The culture is maintained by adhering to old
values and developmental attitudes. They have certain norms and values which flow
in the minds of sub-ordinates. The culture sponsored by the top management
continues in the employees of an organisation. The latter follows the former. The
top management decides and subordinates work. The dress recommended, the
job designs suggested and other factors are taken into account for keeping culture
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Organizational Culture alive. Tata Groups perpetuate a risk-taking, bold and innovative culture. HMT is
and Climate
dedicated to a culture of quality and innovative vision as the top management are
practicing it themselves.
Selection: Culture is maintained by a proper selection policy. People who
NOTES
are qualified and experienced must be appointed ignoring those persons who want
an entry on a pull-push basis. If needed persons are appointed, the organisation
can maintain work culture. On the contrary, if people are appointed based on
political support, they are bound to destroy the existing work culture. The vision,
mission and policy of a sound organisation must not be bypassed while selecting
the people for work performance. In India, the public sector could not maintain
the real character of the public sector because of a defective selection policy. But,
those public enterprises which have been given autonomy and have no interference
from politicians have worked satisfactorily. Indian Oil, Oil and Natural Gas
Commission, Life Insurance Corporation of India and Steel Authority of India have
been successful in maintaining some of the policies of a sound public sector. People
who do not have the core values of an organisation must not be appointed because
they will destroy the very structural value of the organisation.
Training and development programme: After selection and placement,
an organisation should adopt a training and development programme based on the
values of the organisation. Employees learn the values of the organisation. Training
and development programmes are channelized for enhancing the culture of an
organisation. Video films, practicing lectures and problem solutions are the important
components of a value sustaining process. The instructor should identify the
problems of learners so that they can be directed towards the cultural values of
the organisation. The traits and qualities of the employees are used for instrumenting
the employees on the values of the organisation.
Socialisation: The employees are indoctrinated in the organisation’s culture
through the adaptation process which is called socialisation. New employees are
put in the culture of an organisation through on the job and sensitive training. An
intensive training programme is instituted to make the new employees accustomed
with the values of the organisation which includes performing all the activities from
the early morning to sleeping time. The whole day is systematically scheduled to
make the employees learn all the cultures of an organisation. The organisational
culture is maintained not only in the form of work functions but also in dining,
dressing and developmental activities. New graduates can easily learn all the cultural
values of an organisation through the intensive training programme.
Employees prove their commitment with the cultural values of the
organisation after getting the intensive training programme. The newly appointed
employees remain in good standing. They learn the pivotal role or basic values of
an organisation. People who fail to learn the basic values of an organisation after
training are termed as ‘non-conformists’. They become rebels if they have values
contrary to the organisational values. These employees are further brought to a
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steep socialisation process, i.e. prearrival stage, encounter stage and metamorphosis Organizational Culture
and Climate
stage.
Prearrival stage: The values, attitudes and personalities of newly appointed
employees are assessed for driving them towards the organisational culture. Their
NOTES
weaknesses are revealed to paste them with the organisational values. Modification
and smoothening of their existing values are made by the management towards the
culture of an organisation. Employees might have knowledge of socialisation of the
business functions. It is revealed how their socialisation has not moved towards
the organisational values. The diagnosis reveals the possibilities of a complete
socialisation of the organisational culture. Their firmness, rigidity, unfaithfulness and
other anti-attitudes are smoothened to make their uses in different functions of
required values. Psychologists and behaviourists are invited to smoothen their
individual values towards the organisational values.
Encounter stage: The employees, after entering into business functions,
find the activities against their attitude and expectations. The expectations of the
employees may or may not be equal to the reality of the business policy, procedures
and fellow workers’ attitudes. If expectations are not very far from the reality in
the organisation, they reinforce the values of the organisation. A smoothening process
is used in this case. When expectations are far from the reality, the employees are
required to replace their existing style with the organisational policy. The employees
should try to adopt themselves to the values of the organisational culture. If they
fail to adopt, they are put in adverse conditions. They should not be permitted to
destroy the existing culture of the organisation. They are forced to resign if they do
not perform according to the norms and values of the organisation after their intensive
training programme.
Metamorphosis stage: Employees are required to change their values which
are contrary to those of the organisation. The socialisation process is reintroduced
for emphasising divestiture, stripping away and replacing their own values.
Perception, learning and personality development programmes are used to change
the values of the employees to bring them on par with those of the organisation.
The group values and norms are made sacred objectives which should be achieved
by individuals. Role models are used to train and encourage the employees.
Monitoring and self-exercise programmes are held to make people organisation-
minded. A serial socialisation is needed for changing the employees’ values for
organisational values.

10.3 CHANGING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Although international business, to some degree, has existed for centuries, the
second half of the last century was most influential in bringing the world closer to
itself. The world, since 1950s has entered an era of unprecedented global economic
activity, including worldwide production, distribution and global strategic alliances.
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Organizational Culture More recently, in the last decade of the last century, India and China have opened
and Climate
up for entry of multinational companies. Some other closed markets under
communism and social economies, such as one time Soviet Union and Eastern
Europe have joined the international economic arena. Some multinational
NOTES companies such as IBM, GE, BP and Siemens do business in more than 50
countries. According to Mitroft, ‘For all practical purposes all business today is
global. Firms, industries and whole societies that clearly understand the new rules
of doing business in a world economy will prosper; those that do not will perish’.
Culture defines behaviour of people and organizations and international
managers are increasingly recognizing the influence of national culture on
organizational functioning. They are being trained in acquiring the skills of cross-
cultural management and they study the behaviour of people in organizational settings
around the world. They seek to understand and improve the interaction with co-
workers, clients, suppliers and alliance partners from different countries and cultures.
Often multilingual, the global manager thinks with a world view and develops his
strategy on the basis of diverse beliefs, behaviour and practices of people of different
countries. He adopts well to different business environments and solves problems
quickly relative to the environment he is in. He understands and respects different
government and political systems and he communicates in the cultural context of a
given class of people. Experienced international managers understand the need for
‘global mindset’ of cultural adaptability, flexibility, patience and respect.

10.4 IMPACT OF ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE

AND CULTURE

Culture to an organization is an intangible force, with far reaching consequences.

It plays several important roles in organizations. Different functions performed by
culture are discussed below.
Culture Gives a Sense of Identity to Its Members
An organization’s culture provides a sense of identity to its members. The more
clearly an organization’s shared perception and values are defined, the more strongly
people can associate themselves with their organization’s mission and feel a vital
part of it.
Culture Helps to Generate Commitment Among Employees
The second important function of culture is generating commitment to the
organization’s mission. Sometimes it is difficult for people to go beyond thinking of
their own interest: How will this affect me? However, when there is a strong,
overarching culture, people feel that they are part of that larger, well-defined whole
and involved in the entire organization’s work. Not just focussed on any one
individual’s interest, culture reminds people of what their organization is all about.
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Culture Serves to Clarify and Reinforce Standards of Behaviour Organizational Culture
and Climate
A third important function of culture is that it serves to clarify and reinforce standards
of behaviour. While it is essential for newcomers, it is also beneficial for veterans.
In essence, culture guides employees’ words and deeds, making it clear what they NOTES
should do or say in a given situation. In this sense, it provides stability to behaviour,
both with respect to what an individual might do at different times and what different
individuals may do at the same time. For example, in a company with a culture that
strongly supports customer satisfaction, employees will have clear guidance as to
how they are expected to behave; doing whatever it takes to please the customer.
By serving these important roles, it is clear that culture is an important force
influencing behaviour in organizations.
Theories
No single framework for describing the values in organizational culture has emerged;
however, several frameworks have been suggested. Although these frameworks
were developed in the 1980s, their ideas about organizational culture are influential
even today. Some of the “excellent” companies that they described are less excellent
now, but the concepts are still used in companies all over the world. Managers
should evaluate the various parts of the frameworks described and use the parts
that fit the strategic and cultural values for their own organization.
1. The Ouchi Framework
One of the first researchers to focus explicitly on analysing the culture of a limited
group of firms was William G. Ouchi (1981). Ouchi analysed the organizational
culture of three groups of firms, which he characterized as (1) typical US firms, (2)
typical Japanese firms, and (3) type Z US firms.
Based on his analysis, Ouchi developed a list of seven points on which these
three types of firms can be compared. He argued that the cultures of typical
Japanese firms and US type Z firms are very different from those of typical US
firms and that these differences explain the success of many Japanese firms and
US type Z firms and the difficulties faced by typical US firms. The seven points of
comparison developed by Ouchi are as follows:
(i) Commitment to employees
According to Ouchi, typical Japanese and Type Z US firms share the cultural value
of trying to retain employees. Thus, both types of firms layoff employees only as a
last resort. In Japan, the value of “keeping employees on” often takes the form of
lifetime employment. This cultural value is manifested in a commitment of what Ouchi
called “long-term employment.”
Ouchi suggested that typical US firms do not have the same cultural
commitment to employees as Japanese firms and US type Z firms do. In reality,
American workers and managers often spend their entire careers in a relatively
small number of companies. Still there is a cultural expectation that if there is a serious
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Organizational Culture downtown in a firm’s fortune, change of ownership, or a merger, workers and
and Climate
managers will be let go.
(ii) Evaluation
NOTES Ouchi observed that in Japanese and type Z US companies, appropriate evaluation
of workers and managers is thought to take a very long time—up to 10 years—
and requires the use of qualitative as well as quantitative information about
performance. For this reason, promotion in their firms is relatively slow, and
promotion decisions are made only after interviews with many people who have
had contacts with the person being evaluated.
(iii) Careers
Ouchi next observed that the careers most valued in Japanese and Type Z US
firms span multiple functions. In Japan, this value had led to very broad career paths,
which may result in employees gaining experience in six or seven distinct business
functions. The career paths in type Z US firms are somewhat narrower.
However, the career path valued in typical US firms is considerably narrower.
Ouchi’s research indicated that most US managers perform only one or two different
functions in their careers. This narrow career path reflects the value of specialization
that is part of so many US firms.
(iv) Control
All organizations must exert some level of control to achieve coordinated action.
Thus, it is not surprising that firms in the US and Japan have developed cultural
values related to organizational control on how to manage it. Most Japanese and
type Z US firms assume that control is exercised through implicit, informal
mechanisms. One of the most powerful of these mechanisms is the organizational
culture.
In contrast, typical US firms expect guidance to come through explicit
directions in the form of job descriptions, delineation of authority, and various rules
and procedures, rather than informal and implicit cultural values.
(v) Decision-making
Japanese and type Z US firms have a strong cultural expectation that decision
making occurs in groups and is based on the principles of full information sharing
and consensus. In most typical US firms, individual decision making is considered
appropriate.
(vi) Responsibility
Here, the parallels between Japanese firms and type Z US firms break down. Ouchi
showed that in Japan strong cultural norms support collective responsibility, that
is, the group as a whole, rather than a single person, is held responsible for decisions
made by the group. However, in type Z US firms and typical US firms, individuals
are expected to take responsibility for decisions.

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(vii) Concern for people Organizational Culture
and Climate
In Japanese firms and type Z firms, the cultural value that dominates is a holistic
concern for workers and managers. Holistic concern extends beyond concern for
a person simply as a worker or a manager to concern about that person’s home
NOTES
life, hobbies, personal beliefs, hopes, fears, and aspirations. In typical US firms,
the concern for people is a narrow one that focuses on the workplace. A culture
that emphasizes a strong concern for people, rather than the one that describes a
work task orientation can decrease worker turnover (Powell and Mainiero 1993).
Theory Z and performance
Ouchi argued that the cultures of Japanese and type Z firms help them outperform
typical US firms. Toyota imported the management style and culture that succeeded
in Japan into its manufacturing facilities in North America. Toyota’s success has
often been attributed to the ability of Japanese and type Z firms to systematically
invest in their employees and operations over long periods, resulting in steady and
significant improvement in long-term performance.
2. The Peters and Waterman Approach
Tom Peters and Robert Waterman (1982) in their best seller “In search of
Excellence” focused even more explicitly than Ouchi on the relationship between
organizational culture and performance. Peters and Waterman chose a sample of
highly successful US firms and sought to describe the management practices that
led to their success. Their analysis rapidly turned to the cultural values that led to
successful management practices. Some of the excellent values practiced in the
sample firms are as follows:
(i) Bias for action
According to Peters and Waterman, successful firms have a bias for action.
Managers in these firms are expected to make decisions even if all the facts are
not in. They argued that for many important decisions, all the facts will never be in.
Delaying decision making in these situations is the same as never making decisions.
Meanwhile, other firms probably will have captured whatever business initiatives
that existed. On average, according to these authors, organizations with cultural
values that include a bias for action outperform firms without such values.
(ii) Stay close to the customer
Peters and Waterman believe that firms which value customers over anything else
outperform firms without this value. The customer is a source of information about
current products, a source of ideas about future products, and responsible for the
firm’s current and future financial performance. Focusing on the customer, meeting
the customer’s needs, and pampering the customer when necessary lead to superior
performance.

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Organizational Culture (iii) Autonomy and entrepreneurship
and Climate
Peters and Waterman maintained that successful firms fight the lack of innovation
and the bureaucracy usually associated with large size. They do this by breaking
the company into smaller, more manageable pieces and then encouraging
NOTES
independent, innovative activities within smaller business segments. Stories often
exist in these organizations about the junior engineer, who takes a risk and influences
major product decisions, or of the junior manager, who implements a new and highly
successful marketing plan because he is dissatisfied with the current plan.
(iv) Productivity through people
Peters and Waterman believe that successful firms recognize that their most
important assets are their people—both workers and managers—and that the
organization’s purpose is to let its people flourish. It is a basic value of the
organizational culture—a belief that treating people with respect and dignity is not
only appropriate but also essential to success.
(v) Hands-on management
They also noted that the firms they studied insisted that senior managers stay in
touch with the firm’s essential business. It is an expectation, reflecting deeply
embedded cultural norms that managers should not manage from behind the closed
door of their offices but by “wandering around” the plant, the design facility, the
research and development department, and so on.
(vi) Stick to the knitting
Another cultural value characteristic of excellent firms is their reluctance to engage
in business outside their areas of expertise. These firms reject the concept of
diversification, the practice of buying and operating businesses in unrelated
industries. This notion is currently referred to as relying on the “core competencies,”
or what the company does best.
(vii) Simple form, lean staff
According to Peters and Waterman, successful firms tend to have few administrative
layers and relatively small corporate staff group. In companies that are managed
excellently, importance is measured not only by the number of people who report
to the manager but also by the manager’s impact on the organization’s performance.
The cultural values in these firms tell managers that the performance of the staff is
more important than their number.
(viii) Simultaneously loose and tight organization
The final attribute of organizational culture identified by Peter and Watermen appears
contradictory. The firms are tightly organized because all their members understand
and believe in the firm’s values. This common cultural bond is the strong glue that
holds the firms together. At the same time, however, the firms are loosely organized
because they tend to have less administrative overheads, fewer staff members, and
fewer rules and regulations. The result is increased innovation and risk taking and
faster response time.
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3. The Udai Pareek Approach Organizational Culture
and Climate
According to Pareek (2002), there are eight values that govern the culture of an
organization. These eight values together are responsible for making the culture of
an organization strong or weak. These are as follows: NOTES
(i) Openness
As the term implies openness refers to free sharing of thoughts, ideas, and feelings
with each other in an organization. The open environment of the organization results
in a culture where employees have no reservation or negative hidden feelings against
each other. In situations of disagreements they are able to come out openly and
share their concerns with each other. Openness also deals with doing away with
the physical boundaries and erected walls in the organizations. Openness has to
be practiced both in terms of giving as well as receiving information at all levels in
the organization.
(ii) Confrontation
With openness comes the ability to face the situation as it comes to us rather than
move away from it. In cases where there is willingness to face the problem and
solve it, many interpersonal differences are resolved and individuals come forward
with their ideas and solutions.
(iii) Trust
The surety with which people can share their confidential information with each
other without the fear of it being known all over the organization reflects the level
of trust in the organization. In organizations where trust is high among employees,
there is better problem solving and less stress.
(iv) Authenticity
This refers to the equivalence that members of an organization have between their
words and deeds. If people do what they say and feel, it leads to high level of
openness and trust in organizations.
(v) Proactivity
Proactive organizations are ready to face any eventuality and are prepared for
adversaries too. Proactive individuals are more calm and relaxed in their behaviour
towards others. With proactivity, there is a possibility of thinking and planning ahead
and being prepared to encounter situations or individuals.
(vi) Autonomy
It involves giving enough space to other individuals in the organization as you would
seek for yourself. A person with knowledge and competence should be given
freedom to take the decisions for the department or the organization. This promotes
a sense of achievement and self-confidence among employees thereby leading to
mutual respect.

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Organizational Culture (vii) Collaboration
and Climate
Organizations consist of individuals who are expected to work together in a group
and this sense of togetherness can only be generated by the top management in
organizations. People should be forced to learn to work together to develop a sense
NOTES
of team spirit. It will result in openness, trust among members, sharing, and a sense
of belongingness and commitment to the organization.
(viii) Experimentation
In this age of scarce resources, and fast change, any organization which is not willing
to try out new and better ways of working is likely to perish fast. Individuals as
well as organizations can sustain themselves only if they are able to experiment
with the available resources and identify and develop better approaches to deal
with the problems. There has to be out of the box thinking in which nothing that is
obsolete is likely to be accepted.
Issues in Organizational Culture
The following are some of the issues in organizational culture:
 Maintaining the organizational culture. This involves employee engagement
at all times
 Reinforcing organizational culture through different actions so that the
employees do not forget that the ideas of the organizational are not for a
one time show or biased towards one group etc.
 Many times the employees might get the feeling that the organizational culture
is to be maintained overall and that they are not important part of it. So, it is
crucial that the managers ensure that every employee understands that he/
she is important in the process.
 Employees rely on their instincts which might or might not be based on
evidence or are actually opposing to the organization. It is important that
the organizational culture is clearly understood and maintained.
 The organization culture might become outdated or regressive if they are
not adaptive to the change in the environment.
 The different departments in the organization might become a hindrance to
organizational culture if the employees create invisible walls between
themselves.

Check Your Progress

1. Name the two schemes used to define and measure the organizational
climate.
2. List the eight values that govern the organizational culture as per the Udai
Pareek approach.

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 Organizational Culture
10.5 DETERMINANTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL and Climate

CLIMATE

At the very onset of this topic, it is useful to distinguish between determinants and NOTES
dimensions of organizational climate (OC). Determinants are the causes, while
dimensions are the components of OC. You may say, determinants are those which
influence whereas dimensions are those which are influenced.
Although OC refers to the internal environment of an organization, the nature
of OC is determined by a variety of internal and external factors. One of the basic
premises of organizational behaviour is that outside environmental forces influence
events within organizations. After acknowledging the dynamics of internal as well
as external factors in this section, we will consider in greater detail the following
seven internal factors. You will find these factors as determinants of OC in the
following order:
1. Economic Condition
2. Leadership Style
3. Organizational Policies
4. Managerial Values
5. Organizational Structure
6. Characteristics of Members
7. Organizational Size
Let us discuss these factors in detail.
1. Economic Condition
Several dimensions of OC are influenced by an organization’s position on the
economic cycle. The economic condition of any organization influences whether
its budget should be ‘tight’ or ‘loose’. In times of prosperity-when budgets are
more loose than tight-the organization tends to be more adventuresome. On the
other hand, tight budget would lead to an air of caution and conservatism within an
organization. Few managers are willing to suggest new programmes (probably
deserving merit) when the order from above is to exercise tight control over
expenses. So, dimensions of OC like ‘Risk-taking’, ‘Control’, ‘Progressiveness
and Development’ etc. are directly influenced by economic conditions.
2. Leadership Style
The leadership style prevailing in an organization has a profound influence in
determining several dimensions of OC. The influence is so pervasive that you may
often wonder whether OC is a product of the philosophy and practices of prominent
persons in an organization.
Consider, for example, the results of an experimental study where three
organizations were ‘created’ by simulation. All these three Organizations-A, B and
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Organizational Culture C-were identical in terms of nature of business, size of the organization,
and Climate
characteristics of employees, and initial economic condition. The major difference
among these three organizations was the ‘leadership style’. Organization A was
characterised by authoritarian style with high power motivation. Organization B
NOTES was characterised by democratic style with affiliation motivation. Organization C
was characterised by goal directed style with achievement motivation.
3. Organizational Policies
Specific organizational policies can influence a specific dimension of OC to quite
an extent. For example, if the company policy states that layoffs will be used only
as a last resort to cope with business downturn, then it would, in general, foster an
internal environment that is supportive and humanistic.
Similarly, if you are working in a company where it is agreed that the first
beneficiaries, of increased profit would be the employees of that organization and
shareholders would get second priority, then the OC will be characterised by High
Reward Orientation and probably by High Progressiveness and Development.
4. Managerial Values
The values held by executives have a strong influence on OC because values lead
to actions and shape decisions. Values add to perceptions of the organization as
impersonal, paternalistic, formal, informal, hostile or friendly.
5. Organizational Structure
The design or structure of an organization affects the perception of its internal
environment. For example, a bureaucratic structure has an OC much different from
a System 4 organization. What is a System 4 organization? According to Rensis
Likert, all organizations can be classified into four major groups, depending upon
the way basic organizational processes are conducted. These major groupings are
as follows:
System 1 - Exploitative Authoritative
System 2 - Benevolent Authoritative
System 3 - Consultative
System 4 - Participative
How does one know whether an organization should be categorised as
System 1 or 2 or 3 or 4? It depends on the way following processes are perceived
and rated in an organization:
 Leadership process
 Motivation process
 Communication process
 Decision-making process
 Goal-setting process
 Control process
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 Employees of an organization rate these processes on a rating scale; asking Organizational Culture
and Climate
questions like the following:
 How much confidence is shown in subordinates?
 Where is responsibility felt for achieving organization goals? NOTES
 How well superiors know problems faced by subordinates?
 How much covert resistance to goals is present?
 At what levels are decisions formally made?
 Is there an informal organization resisting the formal one?
Based on the answers to these questions, an organization can be classified
as system 1 or 2 or 3 or 4. A bureaucratic structure is likely to be rated as System
2 or System 3. A System 4 organization will have a distinct OC where the main
theme would be strong involvement and self-control of all organization members
at all levels in all basic organizational processes
6. Characteristics of Members
Personal characteristics of the members of an organization also affect the climate
prevailing in the organization. For example an organization with well educated,
ambitious and younger employees is likely to have a different OC than an
organization with less educated, and less upwardly mobile, older employees. The
former might inculcate an environment of competitiveness, calculated risk-taking,
frankness of opinions, etc.
7. Organizational Size
In a small sized organization it is much easier to foster a climate for creativity and
innovation or to establish a participative kind of management with greater stress
on horizontal distribution of responsibilities. On the other hand, in a large
organization it is easier to have a more authoritative kind of management with stress
on vertical distribution of responsibilities. This in turn leads to distinct environments
as has been explained with the help of the concept of System 4 organization.
We have now studied seven basic determinants of OC. The list is not
exhaustive but these are the basic internal factors determining the internal environment
of an organization.
Note that OC is not influenced by factors existing within the organization
only. Societal forces help shape OC as well. To understand societal influences on
OC, let us consider an example in relation to the changing profile of existing and
future employees. You may have noticed at least two changes which are taking
place in our society. First, educational level of employees of all categories is rising.
Second, societal values toward recreational and leisure activities are becoming
stronger. The effect of the first change is in the expectations of employees. People
want more satisfying and fulfilling work which should match their qualifications and
abilities. The impact of the second change is that the passion for non-work is
increasing: people feel less passionate about job performance. So, while one change
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Organizational Culture is pushing towards increased professionalism, the other change is pulling towards
and Climate
leisure-orientation. Against these backdrops of societal forces influencing the profiles
of the employees, the content of the job and the organization processes determine
the OC. To sum up, OC is determined by a variety of internal and external factors
NOTES where internal factors are specific to the organization while external factors refer
to a number of societal forces.
Measuring Organizational Climate
A good organizational climate is the basis for successful operation of any
organization. It substantially contributes to the well-being of the employees, affects
their feeling of belonging and work motivation. It is good to know what the
organizational climate is within the company and its individual units. The most basic
way of measuring the organizational climate is through a questionnaire. It is important
to recognize that every firm is unique and formulate the questionnaire according to
the specifics. But measuring the climate is only the first step. Then we need to focus
on the analysis and prepare changes based on the results.

Check Your Progress

3. List the determinants of organizational climate.
4. How does economic condition affect organizational climate?

10.6 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

QUESTIONS

1. The two schemes used to define and measure the organizational climate are
the following:
 Cognitive schema approach
 Shared perception approach
2. The eight values that govern the organizational culture as per the Udai Pareek
approach are the following:
 Confrontation
 Trust
 Authenticity
 Proactivity
 Autonomy
 Collaboration
 Experimentation

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 3. The determinants of organizational climate are as follows: Organizational Culture
and Climate
 Economic condition
 Leadership style
 Organizational policies NOTES
 Managerial values
 Organizational structure
 Characteristics of members
 Organizational size
4. Several dimensions of organizational climate are influenced by an
organization’s position on the economic cycle. The economic condition of
any organization influences whether its budget should be ‘tight’ or ‘loose’.
In times of prosperity-when budgets are more loose than tight-the
organization tends to be more adventuresome. On the other hand, tight budget
would lead to an air of caution and conservatism within an organization.

10.7 SUMMARY

 Organizational culture is a system of shared beliefs and attitudes that develop

within an organization and guides the behaviour of its members. It is also
known as corporate culture, and has a major impact on the performance of
organizations and especially on the quality of work life experienced by the
employees at all levels of the organizational hierarchy.
 While culture has been a continuous development of values and attitudes
over many generations, at least the organizational culture can be partially
traced back to the values held by the founders of the organization.
 The process of quantifying culture in an organization is called organizational
climate. This is also referred as corporate culture. According to this process,
an employee’s behaviour is influenced by a set of guidelines laid down by
the organization.
 The traditions and way of life of the employees create culture in an
organization. The organizational culture is known by its employees’ behavior
and attitudes. The early traditions are the basis of culture in an organization.
 Sustaining and maintaining culture is essential for the organization to make it
a permanent source of energy. The experience gained by predecessors must
be continued by the subsequent successors.
 Although international business, to some degree, has existed for centuries,
the second half of the last century was most influential in bringing the world
closer to itself.
 Culture to an organization is an intangible force, with far reaching
consequences. It plays several important roles in organizations. Self-Instructional
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Organizational Culture  No single framework for describing the values in organizational culture has
and Climate
emerged; however, several frameworks have been suggested. Although these
frameworks were developed in the 1980s, their ideas about organizational
culture are influential even today.
NOTES
 According to Ouchi, typical Japanese and Type Z US firms share the cultural
value of trying to retain employees.
 Business ethics is the application of ethical values to business behaviours. It
applies to the code of conduct of an organization and, therefore, relates to
its culture.
 Although OC refers to the internal environment of an organization, the nature
of OC is determined by a variety of internal and external factors.
 A good organizational climate is the basis for successful operation of any
organization. It substantially contributes to the well-being of the employees,
affects their feeling of belonging and work motivation.

10.8 KEY WORDS

 Organizational culture: It is a system of shared beliefs and attitudes that

develop within an organization and guides the behaviour of its members.
 Organizational climate: The process of quantifying culture in an
organization is called organizational climate.
 Organizational structure: It defines how activities such as task allocation,
coordination, and supervision are directed toward the achievement of
organizational aims.
 Leadership: It is the art of motivating a group of people to act toward
achieving a common goal.

10.9 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND

EXERCISES

Short-Answer Questions
1. Write a short note on the significance of organizational culture.
2. How has the organizational culture responded to the changing global
scenario?
3. What are the issues faced in organizational culture?
4. What are the determinants of organizational climate?

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Long-Answer Questions Organizational Culture
and Climate
1. ‘Sustaining and maintaining culture is essential for the organization to make
it a permanent source of energy.’ Explain the statement.
2. Discuss the Ouchi Framework developed by William Ouchi with reference NOTES
to organizational culture.
3. Explain the theories of organizational culture.

10.10 FURTHER READINGS

Mishra, M.N. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Noida: Vikas Publishing House.

Robbins, Stephen P. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Davis, Keith. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Singh, Kavita. 2015. Organizational Behaviour: Text and Cases, 3rd Edition.
Noida: Vikas Publishing House.
Gordon, Judith R. 2001. Organizational Behavior: A Diagnostic. New Delhi:
Prentice Hall.
Aswathappa, K. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd.

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Organizational Conflicts

UNIT 11 ORGANIZATIONAL
CONFLICTS
NOTES
Structure
11.0 Introduction
11.1 Objectives
11.2 Definitions
11.2.1 Causes of Conflict
11.3 Different Stages of Conflict
11.4 Conflict and Performance and Measures to Stimulate Conflicts
11.4.1 Conflict and Performance
11.4.2 Conflict Outcomes
11.5 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
11.6 Summary
11.7 Key Words
11.8 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
11.9 Further Readings

11.0 INTRODUCTION

In the previous unit, you learnt about organizational culture and climate. In this
unit, we will discuss organizational conflict. Conflict refers to a state of discord
between two opposing groups. Sometimes, conflict within an organization is
necessary as it can create changes and challenges within the organization. When
handled carefully, conflict can be helpful and constructive and pave way for the
organization to thrive. The unit will discuss the definition, stages and causes of
conflict. It will also discuss the measures to stimulate conflict.

11.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 Understand the types and causes of organizational conflict
 Describe the different stages of conflict
 Understand the necessity and positive outcomes of conflict

11.2 DEFINITIONS

The concept of conflict, being an outcome of behaviours, is an integral part of

human life. Wherever there is interaction, there is conflict. Conflict can be defined
in many ways and can be considered as an expression of hostility, negative attitudes,
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antagonism, aggression, rivalry and misunderstanding. It is also associated with Organizational Conflicts

situations that involve contradictory or irreconcilable interests between two opposing

groups. It can be defined as a disagreement between two or more individuals or
groups, with each individual or group trying to gain acceptance of its view or
objectives over others. NOTES
Conflict must be distinguished from competition, even though sometimes
intense competition leads to conflict. Competition is directed towards obtaining a
goal and one group does not interfere with the efforts of another group. On the
other hand, conflict is directed against another group and actions are taken to
frustrate the other group’s actions towards goal achievement.
Constructive and Destructive Conflict
Since conflict has both positive and negative connotations and consequences, it
must be looked into and managed for useful purposes. The management must
survey the situation to decide whether to stimulate conflict or to resolve it. Thomas
and Schmidt have reported that managers spend up to twenty per cent of their
time in dealing with conflict situations. Hence, it is very important that managers
understand the type of conflict that they have to deal with so that they can devise
some standardised techniques in dealing with common characteristics of conflicts
in each type of category. There are five basic types of conflicts. These are:
Conflict within the individual: The conflict within the individual is usually
value related, where the role playing expected of the individual does not conform
to the values and beliefs held by the individual. For example, a secretary may have
to lie on instructions that her boss is not in the office to avoid an unwanted visitor
or an unwanted telephone call. This may cause a conflict within the mind of the
secretary who may have developed an ethic of telling the truth. Similarly, many
Indians who are vegetarians and visit America and find it very hard to remain
vegetarians, may question the necessity of the vegetarian philosophy, thus causing
a conflict in their minds.
In addition to these value conflicts, a person may have a role conflict. For
example, a telephone operator may be advised and required to be polite to the
customers by her supervisor who may also complain that she is spending too
much time with her customers. This would cause a role conflict in her mind. Similarly,
a policeman may be invited to his brother’s wedding where he may find that some
guests are using drugs which is against the law. It may cause conflict in his mind as
to whether he should play the role of a brother or a policeman. Conflict within an
individual can also arise when a person has to choose between two equally desirable
alternatives or between two equally undesirable goals.
Interpersonal conflict: Interpersonal conflict involves conflict between
two or more individuals and is probably the most common and most recognised
conflict. This may involve conflict between two managers who are competing for
limited capital and manpower resources. For example, interpersonal conflicts can
develop when there are three equally deserving professors and they are all up for
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Organizational Conflicts promotion, but only one of them can be promoted because of budget and positional
constraints. This conflict can become further acute when the scarce resources
cannot be shared and must be obtained.
Another type of interpersonal conflict can relate to disagreements over goals
NOTES
and objectives of the organization. For example, some members of a board of a
school may want to offer courses in sex education while others may find this
proposal morally offensive. This can lead to conflict. Similarly, a college or a
university may have a policy of quality education so that only top quality students
are admitted while some members of the organizational board may propose ‘open
admissions’ policy where all high schools graduates can be considered for admission.
Such a situation can cause conflict among members of the governing board. In
addition to conflicts over the nature and substance of goals and objectives, they
can also arise over the means to reach these goals. For example, two marketing
managers may argue as to which promotional methods would result in higher sales.
These conflicts become highlighted when they are based upon opinions rather
than facts. Facts are generally indisputable resulting in agreements. Opinions are
highly personal and subjective and may provide for criticism and disagreements.
These conflicts are often the result of personality clashes. People with widely
differing characteristics and attitudes are bound to have views and aims that are
inconsistent with the views and aims of others.
Conflict between the individual and the group: As we have discussed
before, all formal groups as well as informal groups have established certain norms
of behaviour and operational standards that all members are expected to adhere
to. The individual may want to remain within the group for social needs but may
disagree with the group methods. For example, in some restaurants, all tips are
shared by all the waiters and waitresses. Some particular waitress who may be
overly polite and efficient may feel that she deserves more, thus causing a conflict
within the group. Similarly, if a group is going on strike for some reason, some
members may not agree with these reasons or simply may not be able to afford to
go on strike, thus causing conflict with the group.
This conflict may also be between the manager and a group of subordinates
or between the leader and the followers. A manager may take a disciplinary action
against a member of the group, causing conflict that may result in reduced productivity.
‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ is a classic example of rebellion of the crew of the ship
against the leader, based upon the treatment the crew received. The conflict among
the armed forces is taken so seriously that the army must obey their commander
even if the command is wrong and in conflict with what others believe in.
Intergroup conflict: An organization is an interlocking network of groups,
departments, sections and work teams. These conflicts are not very personal in
nature as they are due to factors inherent in the organizational structure. For example,
there is an active and continuous conflict between the union and the management.
One of the most common, unfortunate and highlighted conflict is between line and
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staff. The line managers may resent their dependence on staff for information and Organizational Conflicts

recommendations. The staff may resent their inability to directly implement their
own decisions and recommendations. This interdependence causes conflict. These
conflicts that are caused by task interdependencies require that the relationship
between interdependent units be redefined, whenever the values of these NOTES
interdependent factors change. Otherwise, these conflicts will become further
pronounced.
These inter-unit conflicts can also be caused by inconsistent rewards and
differing performance criteria for different units and groups. For example, salesmen
who depend upon their commission as a reward for their efforts may promise their
customers certain quantity of the product and delivery times that the manufacturing
department may find impossible to meet, causing conflict between the two units.
Different functional groups within the organization may come into conflict
with each other because of their different specific objectives. There are some
fundamental differences among different units of the organization both in the structure
and the process and thus each unit develops its own organizational sub-culture.
These sub-cultures, according to Lawrence and Lorsch, differ in terms of: (a) goal
orientation that can be highly specific for production but highly fluid for Research
and Development, (b) time orientation that is short run for sales and long run for
research, (c) formality of structure that is highly informal in research and highly
formal in production and (d) supervisory style that may be more democratic in one
area as compared to another.
A classic example of inter-unit conflict is between sales and production, as
discussed earlier. The sales department is typically customer-oriented and wants
to maintain high inventories for filling orders as they are received, which is a costly
option as against the production department that is strongly concerned about cost
effectiveness requiring as little inventory of finished product at hand as possible.
Similarly, inter-group conflict may arise between day shift workers and night
shift workers who might blame each other for anything that goes wrong from
missing tools to maintenance problems.
Inter-organizational conflict: Conflict also occurs between organizations
that in some way are dependent on each other. This conflict may be between
buyer organizations and the supplier organizations about quantity, quality and
delivery time of raw materials. Conflict may also be regarding other policy issues
between unions and organizations employing their members, between government
agencies that regulate certain organizations and the organizations that are affected
by them. These conflicts must be adequately resolved or managed properly for
the benefit of both types of organizations.
11.2.1 Causes of Conflict
The various types of conflict as discussed above have already been pointed out in
the previous discussion. Basically, the causes of conflict fall into three distinct
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Organizational Conflicts categories. Accordingly, these causes can be restructured and placed into one of
these categories. These categories deal with communicational, behavioural and
structural aspects.
Communicational Aspects of Conflict
NOTES
Poor communication, though not reflecting substantive differences, can have
powerful effect in causing conflict. Misunderstood or partial information during
the process of communication can make a difference between the success and the
failure of a task. Such failures for which the responsibility becomes difficult to
trace can cause conflict between the sender of the communication and the receiver
of the communication. Thus, the problems in the communication process – whether
these problems relate to too much or too little communication, filtering of
communication, semantic problems or noise–act to retard collaboration and
stimulate misunderstanding. The filtering process occurs when information is passed
through many levels or when it passes through many members. The amount of
information is functional up to a point, beyond which it become a source of conflict.
Semantic difficulties arise due to differences in backgrounds, differences in training,
selective perception and inadequate information about others.
As an example, if a manager going on an extended vacation fails to
communicate properly with his subordinates as to who would be doing what, he
will find these jobs only partially done and the subordinates will be blaming each
other for not completing the tasks. Accordingly, adequate, complete, and correctly
understood communication is very important in orderly completion of tasks as it
reduces the chances of a conflict.
Behavioural Aspects of Conflict
These conflicts arise out of human thoughts and feelings, emotions and attitudes,
values and perceptions and reflect some basic traits of a personality. Thus, some
people’s values or perceptions of situations are particularly likely to generate conflict
with others. For example, highly authoritarian and dogmatic people are more prone
to antagonise co-workers by highlighting minor differences that might exist and
may overreact and cause a conflict. This conflict may also be based on personal
biases regarding religion, race or sex. Some men feel poorly about women workers.
These conflicts are not about issues but about persons. Some families carry on
enmity for generations.
The conflict can also arise due to differing viewpoints about various issues.
For example, two vice-presidents may differ in their viewpoints regarding which
strategic plan to implement. The value based conflicts arise due to different values
that may be culturally based. For instance, one vice-president may want to retire
some workers to save costs while another vice-president may have human
sensitivity and support other methods of cutting costs. As another example, a
professor may value freedom of teaching methods and a close supervision of his
teaching technique is likely to induce conflict.

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 From an organizational behaviour point of view, there is conflict between Organizational Conflicts

the goals of the formal organization and the psychological growth of the individual.
While the formal organization demands dependency, passivity and to some degree
obedience from its members, the psychologically developed individuals exhibit
independence, creativity and a desire to participate in decision making and decision NOTES
implementing process. The needs of individuals and the formal organization being
inconsistent with each other, result in behavioural conflict.
Structural Aspects of Conflict
These conflicts arise due to issues related to the structural design of the organization
as a whole as well as its sub-units. Some of the structurally related factors are:
Size of the organization: The larger the size of the organization, the more
the basis for the existence of a conflict. It is likely that as the organization becomes
larger, there is greater impersonal formality, less goals clarity, more supervisory
levels and supervision and greater chance of information being diluted or distorted
as it is passed along. All these factors are breeding grounds for conflict.
Line-staff distinction: One of the frequently mentioned and continuous
source of conflict is the distinction between the line and staff units within the
organization. Line units are involved in operations that are directly related to the
core activities of the organization. For example, the production department would
be a line unit in a manufacturing organization and the sales department would be
considered a line unit in a customer oriented service organization. Staff units are
generally in an advisory capacity and support the line function. Examples of staff
departments are legal department, public relations, personnel and research and
development.
Some of the sources of conflict between line and staff are:
 Since the staff generally advises and the line decides and acts, the staff
often feels powerless.
 Staff employees may simply be resented because of their specialized
knowledge and expertise.
 Occasionally, staff employees are impatient with the conservative and
slow manner in which line managers put the staff ideas to work. Also,
line managers may resist an idea because they did not think of it in the
first place, which hurts their ego.
 Staff has generally easier access to top management which is resented
by the line management.
 Staff is generally younger and more educated and did not go through the
run of the mill and hence their ideas may be considered more theoretical
and academic than practical.
 There is a conflict about the degree of importance between the line and
staff as far as the contribution towards the growth of the company is
concerned.
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Organizational Conflicts  The line usually complains that if things go right then the staff takes the
credit and if things go wrong, then the line gets the blame for it.
 Generally, the staff people think in terms of long-range issues while the
line people are more involved with short-term or day-today concerns.
NOTES
These differing time horizons can become a source of conflict.
Participation: It is assumed that if the subordinates are not allowed to
participate in the decision making process then they will show resentment which
will induce conflict. On the other hand, if the subordinates are provided with greater
participation opportunities, the level of conflict also tends to be higher. This may
be due to the fact that increased participation leads to a greater awareness of
individual differences. This conflict is further enhanced when individuals tend to
enforce their points of view on others.
Role ambiguity: A role reflects a set of activities associated with a certain
position in the organization. If these work activities are ill defined, then the person
who is carrying out these activities will not perform as others expect him to. This is
because his role is not clearly defined. This will create conflict, especially between
this individual and those people who depend upon his activities. A hospital or a
medical clinic employing a number of physicians with overlapping specialties might
cause conflict due to role ambiguity. Such conflicts can be reduced by redefining
and clarifying roles and their interdependencies.
Design of work-flow: These are primarily inter-group problems and
conflicts that are outcomes of poorly designed work-flow structure and poorly
planned coordination requirements, especially where tasks are interdependent.
According to Sashkin and Morris, “organizations are made up of many different
groups that must work together towards the accomplishment of common
objectives.” For example, in a hospital, the doctors and nurses must work together
and their tasks are highly interdependent. If they do not coordinate their activities
well, then there will be confusion and conflict. Similarly, in a restaurant, the cook
and the waiter depend upon each other for critical information. Uncoordinated
activities between the cook and the waiter would create conflicts and problems.
Scarcity of resources: When individuals and units must share such resources
as capital, facilities, staff assistance and so on, and these resources are scarce and
there is high competition for them, then conflict can become quite intense. This is
especially true in declining organizations, where resources become scarcer due to
cutback in personnel and services. The concerned units become highly competitive
for the shrinking pool, thus creating hostility among groups who may have put up
a peaceful front at the time of abundance. For example, two research scientists
who do not get along very well, may not show their hostility until a reduction in
laboratory space provokes each to protect his area.

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 Organizational Conflicts

Check Your Progress

1. Differentiate between competition and conflict.
2. List the three categories for the causes of conflict. NOTES
3. List two sources of conflict between line units and staff units.
4. How does the ambiguity of roles create conflict?

11.3 DIFFERENT STAGES OF CONFLICT

Various stages of a conflict show how conflict arises, grows and unravels among
individuals or groups in an organization. Varied interest or values can engender
conflict. The five stages of conflict are given below:
 Latent Stage: This is the first stage of conflict, wherein people involved in
the conflict are unaware that there is a conflict. For example, there might
have been a delay in submission of a project to a client and the manager
might be unaware of this. This can lead to a situation where the participants
are unaware of a conflict brewing.
 Perceived Stage: In this stage, the people involved in the conflict become
aware of the conflict. For example, the manager would have discovered
that there was a delay in submission of the project and talked to the employee
about it.
 Felt Stage: During this stage, one or more participants experience stress
and anxiety due to the conflict.
 Manifest Stage: The ‘felt stage’ leads to the ‘manifest stage’ in which
conflict can be observed. This stage can take a number of shapes including
e-mails, phone calls, phone messages, face-to-face meetings, or any situation
in which the conflict could be observed.
 Aftermath Stage: This is the final stage in which some outcome of the
conflict, such as a resolution or dissolution of the problem is arrived at.

11.4 CONFLICT AND PERFORMANCE AND

MEASURES TO STIMULATE CONFLICTS

It has been pointed out earlier that under certain circumstances, conflict is necessary
and desirable in order to create changes and challenges within the organization. In
such situations, the management would adopt a policy of conflict stimulation so
that it encourages involvement and innovation. How does the manager recognise a

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Organizational Conflicts situation that is vulnerable to conflict stimulation? Too much satisfaction with the
status quo, low rate of employee turnover, shortage of new ideas, strong resistance
to change, friendly relations taking precedence over organizational goals and
excessive efforts at avoiding conflict are some of the factors responsible for creating
NOTES conflict. Some of the ways of stimulating conflict as suggested by S.P. Robbins
are:
Appoint managers who support change: Some highly authoritative
managers are very conservative in their outlook and tend to suppress opposing
viewpoints. Accordingly, change-oriented managers should be selected and placed
in such positions that encourage innovation and change from the status quo.
Encourage competition: If managed properly, competition can enhance
conflict which would be beneficial to the organization. Such competition can be
created by tying incentives to the performance, recognising efforts, giving bonuses
for higher performance and enhancing status. Such competition and conflict would
result in new ideas regarding improving productivity.
Manipulate scarcity: Let the various individuals and groups compete for
scarce resources. This would cause conflict and make the individuals and groups
do their best in order to fully utilise such resources. For example, one company
president felt that the budget allocations to various departments did not reflect the
changing priorities. Accordingly, a zero-based budget system was introduced so
that each department justified its current budget regardless of the past allocations.
This created fierce competition and conflict and resulted in changes in funds
allocation that were beneficial to the organization.
Play on status differences: Sometimes, ignoring the senior staff members
and giving visible responsibilities to junior members makes the senior staff work
harder to prove that they are better than the junior staff members. In one business
school, the dean appointed a low-status assistant professor in charge of the
curriculum. The senior professors resented having to answer to the junior professor.
This caused conflict and in order to assert their superiority, the full professors
initiated a series of changes that revitalised the entire MBA programme.
Interpersonal Trust Building
While there are a number of behavioural as well as organizational factors, as
discussed before, that contribute to the existence of conflict, there may be just one
single factor that may be highly contributory to reducing that conflict. This factor is
‘trust’. Trust is a highly intangible but a very important element in our civilized
living. Its presence or absence can govern our inter-personal behaviour to a large
extent. Our ability to trust has a great impact on our working lives, our family
interactions and our achievement of personal and organizational goals.
Since trust is a function of behaviour, behaviours that lead to defensiveness
must be identified and modified. These defensive or aggressive behaviours create
a climate that is conducive to mistrust, thus leading to conflict in interpersonal
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areas. Jack Gibb has identified certain behaviours that he calls ‘aggressive’ Organizational Conflicts

behaviours that should be avoided. He has also identified certain behaviours which
he calls ‘supportive’ behaviours that tend to reduce defensiveness and conflict and
should be promoted.
NOTES
Dr. John K. Stout of the University of Scranton suggests in his book
Supervisory Management (February 1984) that these behaviours are not
necessarily mutually exclusive. He further states that not all aggressive behaviours
need to be avoided under all circumstances, but in general the attitude of supportive
behaviour should be adopted as much as possible.
11.4.1 Conflict and Performance
The earlier traditional view of conflict considered it harmful, destructive and
unnecessary. This view was consistent with the attitude that prevailed about group
behaviour and interaction during the 1930s and 1940s. The existence of a conflict
was regarded as a sign that something had gone wrong and it needed to be
corrected. The view held that conflict is to be avoided at all costs. Both the scientific
management approach and the administrative school of management relied heavily
on developing such organizational structures that would specify tasks, rules,
regulations, procedures and authority relationships so that if a conflict developed,
the built-in rules and regulations would identify and correct problems of such conflict.
It was believed that the existence of a conflict reflected poor management and the
deliberate efforts of trouble makers. Thus, through proper management techniques
and attention to the causes of conflict, it could be eliminated and organizational
performance could be improved. The Human Relations School subscribed to a
similar theory that conflict is avoidable by creating an environment of goodwill and
trust. Since organizational conflict involves disagreements on such factors as
allocation of resources, nature of goals and objectives, organizational policies and
procedures, nature of assignments and distribution of rewards, this conflict at its
worst can lead to unnecessary stress, blockage in communication, lack of
cooperation and increased sense of distrust and suspicion. This results in reduced
organizational effectiveness. Accordingly, management has always been concerned
with avoiding conflict if possible and resolving it as soon as possible if it occurs.
However, management scholars have shifted their view of conflict in recent
years. This new approach is known as behavioural view and it proposes that
because people differ in their attitudes, values and goals, conflict is a natural outcome
and it can be helpful and constructive if it is handled properly. The more modern
view of conflict holds that conflict may in fact, under certain situations, be necessary
for performance effectiveness, because harmonious, peaceful and cooperative
groups can become static and such level of conflict that keeps the group alive,
self-critical and creative is desirable. Management is usually encouraged to maintain
such level of conflict. This is especially true in organizations such as Research and
Development, advertising agencies, public policy groups and so on.

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Organizational Conflicts 11.4.2 Conflict Outcomes
Some of the positive consequences of conflict are as follows:
 It helps in analytical thinking: Conflict may induce challenge to such
NOTES views, opinions, rules, policies, goals and plans that would require a critical
analysis in order to justify it or make required changes. In the words of
H.M. Carlisle, ‘no situation is more detrimental to an organization than letting
poor decisions go unchallenged.’
 It helps in increased cohesion: Conflict between different organizations
develops loyalty and cohesion within an organization. It develops a greater
sense of group identity in order to compete with outsiders. It fosters
dedication and commitment to organizational and group goals.
 Conflict promotes competition and hence it results in increased
efforts: Some individuals are highly motivated by conflict and severe
competition. For example, a professor who is turned down for a promotion
due to conflict within the division may work harder to prove that he is more
capable and deserves a promotion. Similarly, if a group of production
workers during the day shift finds out that the similar group at night shift
produced more, it would result in the improved performance for the day
shift as well. Therefore, such conflicts and competition leads to high level of
effort and output.
 It serves as a foundation for organizational development: Conflict
with the status quo is a pre-requisite to change. Creative and innovative
people are always looking for grounds to challenge the status quo. These
challenges lead to search for alternatives to existing patterns that leads to
organizational change and development.
 Conflict when expressed can clear the air and reduce tension: Some
disagreements, if unexpressed, can lead to imaginative distortions of truth,
sense of frustration and tension, high mental exaggerations and biased
opinions, resulting in fear and distrust. However, when it is expressed, it
may show the cause of conflict to be a minor one resulting in cooperation
and compromise.

Check Your Progress

5. What is the role of trust building in reducing conflict?
6. What are the recent views of management scholars regarding conflict?

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11.5 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
QUESTIONS

1. Competition is directed towards obtaining a goal and one group does not NOTES
interfere with the efforts of another group while conflict is directed against
another group and actions are taken to frustrate the other group’s actions
towards goal achievement.
2. The causes of conflict fall into three distinct categories. Accordingly, these
causes can be restructured and placed into one of these categories. These
categories deal with communicational, behavioural and structural aspects.
3. Some of the sources of conflict between line and staff are:
 Since the staff generally advises and the line decides and acts, the staff
often feels powerless.
 Staff employees may simply be resented because of their specialized
knowledge and expertise.
4. Ambiguity of roles leads to a situation where work activities are ill-defined.
In such situations, the person carrying out the activities will not perform as
others expect him to. This can lead to conflict, especially between the
individual and the people who depend on his activities.
5. Trust building is a highly intangible element that can play a significant role in
reducing conflict. Its presence or absence can govern our inter-personal
behaviour to a large extent. While a number of behavioural as well as
organizational factors lead to conflict, trust plays a role in reducing it. The
ability to trust has a great impact on the achievement of personal and
organizational goals.
6. The opinion of management scholars regarding conflict has changed
drastically in recent years. The new approach looks at conflict as a natural
outcome and considers it helpful and constructive. It is believed that conflict
might be necessary for performance effectiveness.

11.6 SUMMARY

 The concept of conflict, being an outcome of behaviours, is an integral part

of human life.
 Since conflict has both positive and negative connotations and consequences,
it must be looked into and managed for useful purposes.
 Interpersonal conflict involves conflict between two or more individuals and
is probably the most common and most recognised conflict.

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Organizational Conflicts  An organization is an interlocking network of groups, departments, sections
and work teams. These conflicts are not so much personal in nature, as
they are due to factors inherent in the organizational structure.
 Conflict is necessary and desirable in order to create changes and challenges
NOTES
within the organization. In such situations the management would adopt a
policy of conflict stimulation so that it encourages involvement and innovation.
 While there are a number of behavioural as well as organizational factors
that contribute to the existence of conflict, there may be just one single
factor that may be highly contributory to reducing that conflict. This factor
is ‘trust’.
 Conflict between different organizations develops loyalty and cohesion within
an organization and it develops a greater sense of group identity in order to
compete with outsiders.
 Some disagreements if unexpressed, can lead to imaginative distortions of
truth, sense of frustration and tension, high mental exaggerations and biased
opinions resulting in fear and distrust. However, when it is expressed, it
may show the cause of conflict to be a minor one resulting in cooperation
and compromise.

11.7 KEY WORDS

 Antagonism: It means opposition of a conflicting force, tendency, or

principle.
 Aggression: It means feelings of anger or antipathy resulting in hostile or
violent behaviour; readiness to attack or confront.
 Trust: It means firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or
something.

11.8 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND

EXERCISES

Short-Answer Questions
1. List the various types of conflicts.
2. Write a short-note on interpersonal conflict.
3. What are the various stages of conflict?
4. What are the positive consequences of conflict?
Long-Answer Questions
1. Examine the causes of conflict in organizations.
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 2. Discuss the ways of stimulating conflict. Organizational Conflicts

3. Examine the relationship between conflict and performance.

11.9 FURTHER READINGS NOTES

Mishra, M.N. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Noida: Vikas Publishing House.

Robbins, Stephen P. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Davis, Keith. 2010. Organizational Behaviour: Human Behavior at Work.
New York: McGraw Hill.
Singh, Kavita. 2015. Organizational Behaviour: Text and Cases, 3rd Edition.
Noida: Vikas Publishing House.
Gordon, Judith R. 2001. Organizational Behaviour: A Diagnostic. New Delhi:
Prentice Hall.
Aswathappa, K. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd.

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Career Planning

UNIT 12 CAREER PLANNING

NOTES Structure
12.0 Introduction
12.1 Objectives
12.2 Meaning, Need and Characteristics
12.3 Process of Career Planning
12.4 Evaluation of Career Planning: Advantages and Limitations
12.5 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
12.6 Summary
12.7 Key Words
12.8 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
12.9 Further Readings

12.0 INTRODUCTION

In the previous unit, you learnt about organizational conflicts. In this unit, the
discussion will turn towards career planning. A career plan is an individual’s choice
of occupation, organization and career path. It encourages employees to explore
and gather information, which enables them to synthesize, gain competencies, make
decisions, set objectives and take action. The unit will discuss the meaning of
career planning, the process of career planning, as well as its limitations.

12.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 Define career planning
 Describe the process of career planning
 Examine the advantages and limitations of career planning

12.2 MEANING, NEED AND CHARACTERISTICS

Career planning is a managed process of dialogue between each manager and the
organization about career prospects, aspiration, skills, and development needs
(Burgoyne and Germain 1984). This can occur in the form of a cyclical process
comprising performance reviews, identification of career potential, and
determination of learning needs for each and every employee in the organization.
It is essential to have this review on a timely basis, either annually or semi-annually.
In case these processes are linked with corporate policy, it would be easier to

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review the managerial career in light of changing organization or corporate direction, Career Planning

and corporate directions can be managed on the basis of available information on

skills, aspirations, potential, and the vision of the management teams in organization.
The process of career planning can aid an organization in trying to identify the
future qualified and talented personnel, increase the involvement of the key NOTES
employees, and improve the match between the individual and organization needs
and wants (Granrose and Portwood 1987).
Williams (1984) contends that it is important to understand that career
planning is not just meant for managers and professional, but should be applicable
to clerical and part-time employees too. There are leaner and flatter organizations
which do not provide enough promotional opportunities to employees in terms of
upward or onward movement. In such cases, organization will have to provide
with an inbuilt advancement with increased emphasis on career development in
terms of job rotation, lateral moves, or temporary exchanges with other
organization. If this is not paid attention, competent and talented employees will
start looking for opportunities outside the organization.
Career Plateaus
Herriot and Pemberton (1995) found that in organizations where there are fewer
opportunities available for promotions, employees are likely to experience career
plateau. There are four different categories of employees who will experience
career plateau in different ways:
1. Career fixers: These employees are capable of doing wide variety of jobs
without any desire for upward hierarchical movement. The requirement is
that the job should be attractive enough to retain their interest. They are
usually younger in age and have spent less time in work organizations.
2. Ambitions careerist: These are the younger ambitious lots who have very
high expectations of getting promotion and moving to a higher rung in the
organization at the earliest possible opportunity. They are confident that
they will never become redundant.
3. Career disengagers: Their level of engagement with career is low and
they are looking forward to retirement or part-time work. They generally
belong to the group of older employees who have lost interest in the job
and are looking forward to a retired and comfortable life.
4. Career lifers: These managers believe their career to be their life and
decide to stay with the organization as long as possible. They tend be older
and are convinced that promotion are a thing of past.
Another observation is that managers of present age are reaching plateaus
much earlier, at the age of 30–40 years, as compared to their counterpoint in
1980s.

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Career Planning Career Planning Categories
Career planning can be categorized predominantly into five ways (Morgan, Hall
& Martier 1999). These are as follows:
NOTES 1. Career pathing: Career pathing is a process which helps an individual
move towards a higher level position within the organization. The person
may be required to take up additional assignment or overseas projects in
order to gain an understanding of overseas operation. Many organizations
provide flexibility and give opportunities to employees to move laterally or
vertically (Di Prete 1987) so as to enhance their skills and capabilities.
2. Career counselling: Career counselling is a process which helps an
employee to explore alternative modes of finding solution to problems related
to career. The aim is to help the person take responsibility for actions. The
person responsible for career counselling should be sympathetic, genuine,
non-judgmental, and be able to create an atmosphere of trust and
confidence. The counsellor should have an aptitude for good listening,
clarifying issues, reflecting, summarizing, and offering guidance.
Career counselling provides the employees with an ability to understand
the opportunities and constraints in career development (Nathem and Hill
1992). Van Manner and Schien (1977) list the issues that could be explored
in a counselling session between the client and the counsellor:
 Career goals, aspirations and expectations
 Opportunities available within the organization
 Self-development of employee in order to shoulder additional
responsibilities
 Identification of new assignment to help employee grow
3. Human resource planning: The process of human resource planning deals
with forecasting the human resource needs, creating charts to show
succession plan, developing a record of skills and abilities of employees
within the company.
4. Career information system: Employees in an organization need to be
kept informed about the career information. The vacancies in the organization
should be advertised internally on notice boards and through newsletter,
etc. Senior managers can use leaflets, videos, talks, and discussions to pass
on the career information to the staff. This would help to generate awareness
among employees and keep them motivated.
5. Special programmes: Some special types of programmes to help
employees disengage from the organization can be formalized. Pre-retirement
programmes and outplacement programmes can help persons who are
leaving the organization to maintain their self-dignity and self-worth. Various
programmes to help employees change their career direction from technical
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 to managerial ones or to help the minorities or women to solve their problems Career Planning

special programmes can be designed (Bowen & Hisrich 1986).

Need for Career Planning
It is important to plan for one’s career as it gives one much needed direction and NOTES
makes it clear where an individual sees oneself in the future. It makes an individual
aware of his strength and weaknesses and the skills and knowledge that are needed
to achieve his objectives in future. A large proportion of an employee’s life is spent
in achieving career goals; thus, it is very vital to make sure that right steps are
taken and correct planning is done in the early years of an individual’s life. As a
majority of us are not sure what we want from life and so it is very important to
plan out things. Therefore, career planning is what gives one true meaning and
purpose.

12.3 PROCESS OF CAREER PLANNING

To plan one’s career well and succeed in that, an individual needs to plan one’s
career carefully. It is important, therefore, for him to know himself well and
understand one’s priorities and interests. An individual needs to introspect before
planning one’s career. For this, there are certain prerequisites that are essential
before he plunges into a career. These are as follows:
 Get to know yourself: The first step in the process of planning one’s
career is to realize and understand one’s goals, values, and aspirations.
One has to clearly understand what defines success and happiness for him.
The definition may vary from person to person. But basically success is the
ability to achieve one’s objectives, whatever they are and happiness is feeling
satisfied with one’s situation. Career planning is a subset of life planning
which involves making choices between various aspects of one’s life and
work (career being one of them). The other aspects may include family,
money, societal concerns, spirituality, social life, health, recreation, and many
more. Effective career planning will entail achieving a perfect balance between
work and other aspects of life.
One way of getting to know oneself is by answering the question, ‘Where
have I come from?’ This will require a lot of introspection as to write about
yourself freely without any obstruction. Do not focus on whether you are
writing ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ things. After finishing the review, analyse your
results to known areas that seem the most and the least important to you.
Also identify your major values in life and rank them in the order of importance.
This exercise will help you identify some of your aspirations and interests.
Another way to answer these questions is to write your autobiography
(Clawson 1992).
 Determine your interest: It is assumed that by the time an individual is
pursuing his/ her graduation degree, there is enough clarity about what
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Career Planning occupation or profession he/she wants to pursue amongst the cluster of
Jobs (Holland 1973). Different inventories also could be utilized for
identifying one’s area of interest in different occupation.
 Know your skills: It is also important to know your skills to understand
NOTES
what one can give to the job. Make a list of skills that you possess currently
in order of their strength and keep on adding to this list as you learn more
skills or further enhance the existing skills.
The process of knowing and developing your skills is based on continuous
training and experience. One not only needs to develop skills for the current job
but also for the future jobs in anticipation, if possible.
The steps in the career planning process are as follows:
1. To appraise one’s self
2. Identify opportunities
3. Set goal
4. Prepare plans, and
5. Implement plans.
Let us examine each of these steps.
Self-appraisal
As discussed earlier, knowledge about oneself in terms of one’s skills, interests,
and value system will help an individual decide on one’s career effectively. A good
introductory exercise in this area would be to ask the individual to write his obituary
as he would like it to appear x years hence upon death. The individual is asked to
write down what he would like others to remember him by. What did he always
want to do but never found time or opportunity to do? What are his life and career
concerns?
Another exercise to assist in self-analysis requires the person to identify his
or her strengths and weaknesses in regards to technical, interpersonal,
communications, administrative and personal skills. He is then asked to indicate
the degree of importance he attaches to such jobs’ characteristics as autonomy,
security, affiliation with others, financial rewards, and influence over others. Next
he is asked to describe jobs he has held that are most and least rewarding. Finally,
he is asked to describe his ideal next job.
Another means of finding out information about oneself is to take attitude
and vocational interest tests. These are administered by career counselling centres
at school and colleges.
Identify Opportunities
One’s skills, interests, and values should be related to career opportunities. Although
some would argue that there is always room for one better person in a deciding

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occupation, those choosing this course of action ought to recognize they will have Career Planning

a ‘tough row to hoe’. This course is like trying to swim upstream. It is a good idea
to study trends in the economy, population demographics, technology, and public
policy because these shape the future job market.
NOTES
The HR office should publish information regarding jobs within the
organization. This can take the form of organization chart, lists of titles, and actual
description of jobs classified according to pay level, department and location. The
HR office should also publish the requisite qualification for each of these jobs. Job
openings, as they occur, can be announced through bulletin boards, notices,
interoffice announcements, and through advertising media like newspapers,
televisions, etc. Many technical and professional societies publish information about
career in their specialties.
Set Goals
After the individual has appraised personal strength, weaknesses, interests, and
values and after obtaining knowledge of job trends and opportunities, career goals
can be properly established. This will require the setting of short-term, intermediate,
and long-term goals. Goals that lead to growth should be challenging so that the
individual gains new skills and outlooks. The goals should be consistent with one’s
capabilities and compatible with one’s self-image.
Prepare Plans
In thinking through the measures, one will need to take precautions to meet one’s
goals. It is also advisable to consult with one’s supervisor and with the responsible
member of the personal department. Plans may be made for any of various actions
designed to achieve the career goals. Reasonably, one ought to start with feasible,
short-term, on-the job learning experiences and useful of-the-job training activities.
As success is achieved on the early activities, bigger and longer run developmental
projects can be tackled. The planning should take into account the special needs
of the person such as skills and experiences required to reach the various goals.
Implement Plans
For implementation of one’s plans, it is most desirable that the organizational climate
be supportive. This means that top-level management must encourage all echelons
of management to help their subordinates develop their careers. Actions to
implement the plans may include special project assignments, temporary job
transfers, filling in for the boss’s vacation, in-service training classes, self-study
reading assignments, assignment to a special task force, and evening classes in an
area college.

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Career Planning
12.4 EVALUATION OF CAREER PLANNING:
ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS

NOTES Leibowitz and Schlossberg (1981) and Williams (1984) have outlined different
benefits of career planning process which have been discussed below:
 Helps employees develop a realistic expectations of their present work and
future in their organization
 Generates awareness about the opportunities available within the organization
and possible constraints
 Clarifies supervisor’s role in career counselling
 Develops greater senses of personal responsibility for career planning and
development
 Helps to have a clearer understanding of one’s values, interests, and abilities
 Helps to develop better ability to resolve job-career-family issues
Organization is also benefited as it is able to make better use of employees’
capabilities. Employees’ performance is also improved and the turnover rate gets
reduced.
Drawbacks of Career planning
An ineffective career planning may result in certain dysfunctional outcomes among
employees leading to high anxiety and frustrations (Moorhead and Griffin 1998).
Some of the limitations of career planning are as follows:
 Supervisors may spend a lot of time counselling their subordinates.
 There may be too much of overload in the personal system.
The end result could be increased frustration, disappointment, reduced
commitment, increase in employee turnover, and complacency in individual and
organization performance.

Check Your Progress

1. Who are career fixers?
2. State two limitations of career planning process.
3. What is career pathing?
4. Who are career disengagers?

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 Career Planning
12.5 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
QUESTIONS

1. Career fixers are employees capable of doing wide variety of jobs without NOTES
any desire for upward hierarchical movement. The requirement is that the
job should be attractive enough to retain their interest. They are usually
younger in age and have spent less time in work organizations.
2. Some of the limitations of career planning are as follows:
 Supervisors may spend a lot of time counselling their subordinates;
 There may be too much of overload in the personal system.
3. Career pathing is a process which enables an employee to move towards a
higher level position within the organization. The employee may be required
to take up additional assignment or overseas projects in order to gain an
understanding of overseas operation.
4. Career disengagers are employees whose level of engagement with career
is low and they are looking forward to retirement or part-time work. They
generally belong to the group of older employees who have lost interest in
the job and are looking forward to a retired and comfortable life.

12.6 SUMMARY

 Career planning is a managed process of dialogue between each manager

and the organization about career prospects, aspiration, skills, and
development needs.
 Career planning is not just meant for managers and professional, but is
should be applicable to clerical and part-time employees too.
 In organizations where there are fewer opportunities available for
promotions, employees are likely to experience career plateau.
 The process of human resource planning deals with forecasting the human
resource needs, creating charts to show succession plan, developing a record
of skills and abilities of employees within the company.
 It is important to plan for one’s career as it gives one much needed direction
and makes it clear there where an individual sees oneself in future.
 To plan one’s career well and succeed in that, an individual needs to plan
one’s career carefully. It is important, therefore, for him to know himself
well and understand one’s priorities and interests.
 Career planning helps employees develop a realistic expectations of their
present work and future in their organization.

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Career Planning  An ineffective career planning may result in certain dysfunctional outcomes
among employees leading to high anxiety and frustrations.

NOTES
12.7 KEY WORDS

 Career Planning: It is an individual’s lifelong process of establishing

personal career.
 Promotion: It is the action of promoting someone or something to a higher
position or rank or the fact of being so promoted.
 Career Counselling: It is a process which helps an employee to explore
alternative modes of finding solution to problems related to career.

12.8 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND

EXERCISES

Short-Answer Questions
1. What is career pathing?
2. Why is career planning needed?
3. What are the different types of employees that experience career plateaus?
Long-Answer Questions
1. Discuss the benefits of career planning.
2. Examine the steps in the career planning process.

12.9 FURTHER READINGS

Mishra, M.N. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Noida: Vikas Publishing House.

Robbins, Stephen P. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Davis, Keith. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Singh, Kavita. 2015. Organizational Behaviour: Text and Cases, 3rd Edition.
Noida: Vikas Publishing House.
Gordon, Judith R. 2001. Organizational Behavior: A Diagnostic. New Delhi:
Prentice Hall.
Aswathappa, K. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd.

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 Emotional Intelligence
BLOCK - V
EMOTIONS AND POWER POLITICS IN
ORGANISATION
NOTES

UNIT 13 EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE
Structure
13.0 Introduction
13.1 Objectives
13.2 Emotions: Meaning and Types
13.2.1 Managing Emotions
13.3 Emotional Intelligence: Dimensions, Advantages and Limitations
13.4 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
13.5 Summary
13.6 Key Words
13.7 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
13.8 Further Readings

13.0 INTRODUCTION

In the previous unit, you learnt about career planning. This unit will introduce you
to the idea of emotional intelligence. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a debatable
topic among business leaders and HR professionals. EI has been discussed
extensively in the last decade. It is largely used to denote terms such as soft skills,
people skills and a general ability to cope with the challenges of life. The unit will
discuss the meaning and types of emotions, as well as the advantages and
dimensions of emotional intelligence.

13.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 Discuss the meaning and types of emotions
 Explain the dimensions of emotional intelligence
 Describe the advantages and limitations of emotional intelligence

13.2 EMOTIONS: MEANING AND TYPES

Etymologically, the word ‘emotion’ is derived from the Latin word emovere which
means to stir up, to agitate or to excite. RS Woodworth (1945), by making use of Self-Instructional
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Emotional Intelligence this explanation, has defined emotion in this way: ‘Emotion is a moved or stirred
up state of an organism. It is a stirred up state of feeling, that is, the way it appears
to the individual himself. It is a disturbed muscular and glandular activity—that is
the way it appears to an external observer’.
NOTES
According to Crow and Crow (1973), an emotion ‘is an effective experience
that accompanies generalized inner adjustment and mental and psychological stirred
up states in the individual, and that shows itself in his own behaviour’.
William McDougall (1949) says, ‘An instinct is an inherited or innate psycho-
physical disposition which determines its possessor to perceive and to pay attention
to, objects of a certain class, to experience an emotional excitement of a particular
quality upon perceiving such an object, and to act in regard to it in a particular
manner, or, at least, to experience an impulse to such an action’. This statement
gives us the nature of emotions as well. According to McDougall, an instinctive
behaviour has three aspects:
(i) Cognitive or knowing or the perceptual aspect.
(ii) Affection or feeling or emotional effects.
(iii) Conative or doing or striving or executive, active or the behavioural
aspect.
Let us take an example. A child sees a bull coming towards him. He
experiences an instinctive fear and undergoes the above three processes. Firstly,
he perceives the bull, secondly he experiences an emotion of fear and thirdly he
tries to run away. It is, therefore concluded that an emotion is an affective experience
that one undergoes during an instinctive excitement.
McDougall discovered 14 basic instincts and pointed out that each and
every emotion, whatever may be, is the product of some instinctive behaviour.
The instincts with their associated emotions are listed alphabetically as under:
No. Instinct Emotion Accompanying an Instinct
1. Acquisition Feeling of ownership
2. Appeal Distress
3. Construction Feeling of creativeness
4. Curiosity Wonder
5. Flight or Escape Fear
6. Food seeking Appetite
7. Gregariousness Feeling of loneliness
8. Laughter Amusement
9. Parental Tenderness, Love
10. Pugnacity or Combat Anger
11. Repulsion Disgust
12. Self-assertion Positive feeling or elation
13. Sex, Mating Lust
14. Submission Negative feeling

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 Kimball Young notes, ‘Emotion is the aroused psychological state of the Emotional Intelligence

organism marked by increased bodily activity and strong feelings directed to some
subject’.
Chief Characteristics of Emotions
NOTES
There are several characteristics associated with humans and emotions. Some of
these important ones are given below:
1. Emotional experiences are associated with some instincts or biological drives.
2. Emotions, in general, are the product of perception.
3. The core of an emotion is a feeling which is essentially linked with some sort
of urge or impulsive act to do. There is only a difference of degree between
feeling and emotion.
4. Every emotional experience involves several physical and psychological
changes in the organism. Some of these changes, like bulge of the eyes,
flush of the face, flow of tears, pulse rate, are easily observable. Also, there
are internal physiological changes like circulation of blood, impact on the
digestive system and changes in the functioning of some glands.
5. Emotions are frequent.
6. Emotions are expressed in relation to concrete objects or situations.
7. Emotions are temporary.
8. Emotional expressions in early childhood are intense irrespective of the
intensity of the stimulus.
9. Small children fail to hide their emotions and express them indirectly through
different activities like crying, nail-biting, thumb-sucking and speech
difficulties.
10. Emotions are prevalent in every living organism.
11. Emotions are present at all stages of development and can be aroused in
young as well as in old people.
12. Emotions differ from person to person.
13. The same emotion can be aroused by a number of different stimuli—objects
or situations.
14. Emotions rise abruptly but die slowly.
15. Emotions are subject to displacement. The anger aroused on account of
one stimuli gets transferred to other situations. The anger caused by the
rebuking of the officer to his subordinate may be transferred in beating of
his children at home.
16. One emotion may give rise to a number of likewise emotions.

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Emotional Intelligence Effects of Emotions on the Developing Individual
Given below are the important effects of emotions on the developing individual:
1. Emotions provide energy to an individual to face a particular situation.
NOTES 2. Emotions work as motivators of our behaviour.
3. Emotions influence our adjustment in the society.
4. Highly emotional conditions disturb the mental equilibrium of an individual.
5. Highly emotional conditions disturb the reasoning and thinking of an
individual.
Inter-relation of Physical and Emotional Factors
There is a close relationship between the physical and emotional factors. An
imbalance or disturbance in the child’s physical growth will most likely be reflected
in his intellectual functioning and personality adjustment. An unhealthy emotional
climate is likely to affect the physical health of the child and it may hinder his
normal physical growth. A child under emotional strain is likely to be physically
unhealthy and show signs of physical ailments. This relationship is illustrated in
Fig. 13.1.

Fig. 13.1 Inter-relation of Physical and Emotional Development

Kinds of Emotions: Positive and Negative

Emotions, in general can be categorized into two kinds—positive emotions and
negative emotions. Emotions like affection (love), amusement, curiosity, happiness
and joy which are very helpful and essential to the normal behaviour are termed as
positive emotions.
Unpleasant emotions like anger, fear and jealousy which are harmful to the
individual’s development are termed as negative emotions.

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 It should be borne in mind that it is not to be assumed that all the positive Emotional Intelligence

emotions are always good and the negative emotions are bad. Excess of anything
can be harmful. Whether an emotion will prove to be helpful or harmful to an
individual depends upon the following factors:
NOTES
(i) The frequency and intensity of the emotional experience.
(ii) The situation, occasion and the nature of stimulus which arouses the
emotion.
(iii) The kind of emotional experience.
Emotions with too much intensity and frequency whether positive or negative
bring forth harmful effects.
13.2.1 Managing Emotions
Emotional development of an individual is influenced by a number of factors—
health and physical development, intelligence, family environment, school
environment, peer groups’ environment, neighbourhood, community and society’s
environment.
1. Health and physical development of an individual: There is a positive
correlation between health and physical development and emotional
development. Any deficiency in health and physical development, be it
internal or external, leads to emotional disturbance. Children who are weak
in structure or who suffer occasional illness are more emotionally upset and
unstable than children whose health is better. Any abnormal increase or
decrease in the normal functioning of the glands creates obstacles in the
proper emotional development.
2. Intelligence and emotional development: H Meltzer (1937) as quoted
by E B Hurlock observed, ‘There is less emotional control, on the average,
among those of the lower intellectual level than among children of the same
group who are bright’. An intelligent person, with his thinking and reasoning
powers, is in a better position to exercise control over his emotions.
3. Family environment and emotional development: A cordial
environment, i.e., healthy relationships between the parents is very conducive
to the emotional development of the child. The treatment meted out to the
child by the parents and other members of the family influences his emotional
development. The order of birth (whether the first or the younger child), sex
(son or daughter), size of the family, socio-economic status of the family,
discipline in the family, the parental attitude towards the child (pampered,
overprotected or neglected)—all are important factors in the emotional
development of the child.
4. School environment: The attitude of the teachers, school discipline,
academic facilities available, physical facilities, methods of teaching and co-
curricular activities—all influence emotional development of children.
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Emotional Intelligence 5. Peer group relations and emotional development: The influence of the
classmates and other members of the group affects emotional development.
6. Neighbourhood, community and society’s environment and emotional
development: A child lives in the society and he picks up so many traits of
NOTES
his emotional behaviour from his surroundings.

13.3 EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: DIMENSIONS,

ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS

Recently, a growing group of psychologists has come to the conclusion that old
concepts of I.Q. revolved around a narrow band of linguistic and mathematical
skills and is most directly a predictor of success in the classroom but less so as
life’s paths diverged from academe. Psychologists like Sternberg and Salovey
have taken a wider view of intelligence, trying to reinvent it in terms of what it
takes to lead life successfully. Salovey subsumes Gardner’s personal intelligences
in his basic definition of emotional intelligence—”Emotional intelligence is the process
of learning to understand our own emotions, learning to understand the emotions
of others, gaining proficiency in positive emotional responses in oneself, and
recognising and accepting the emotional responses of others.” According to
Goleman, emotional intelligence includes self-control, zeal, persistence, and the
ability to motivate oneself. Emotional intelligence, once developed, can create the
avenue for a productive, rewarding and fulfilling life. Peter Salovey has identified
following the characteristics of emotional intelligence:
(1) Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is a key stone of emotional intelligence. It means recognising a
feeling as it happens. The ability to monitor one’s feelings from movement to
movement is crucial to psychological insight and self-understanding whereas the
inability to notice our true feelings leaves us at their mercy. Self-awareness has
three important aspects:
(a) Physical self-awareness which includes all that is tangible such as one’s
looks, clothing, hairstyle, jewellery and what kind of home he/she lives in.
(b) Academic self-awareness relates to understanding how well one does
with regard to academic achievement and concept understanding. When a
student has very little academic success, his academic self-concept suffers.
However, this low academic achiever is fully aware of his weaknesses and
is functioning in a cognitively conscious state; he is more open to strategies
to increase academic performance.
(c) Social self-awareness indicates how one relates to other people whether
they are peers, co-workers, family members or strangers. Honesty with
oneself and a cognizant effort to perceive feelings in others is the key to
self-awareness.
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 People having greater certainty about their feelings are better masters of Emotional Intelligence

their lives. They are autonomous and are in good psychological health. According
to Goleman (1997), we may be born with a predisposition toward optimism or
pessimism, but our negative or positive outlook can be learned.
NOTES
(2) Managing Emotions
It is concerned with handling feelings and is based on self-awareness. A life without
emotions would be a dull wasteland, cut off and isolated from the richness of life
itself. What is wanted is appropriate emotion, feeling proportionate to circumstance.
People who have poor ability to manage their emotions are in constant distress,
whereas those who excel in it can bounce back for more quickly from life’s setbacks
and upsets.
(3) Motivating Oneself
It means marshalling emotions for the attainment of a goal which is essential for
paying attention, for self-motivation and mastery, and for creativity. Emotional
self-control means delaying gratification and stifling impulsiveness; this underlies
accomplishment of all sorts. Such people are highly productive and effective in
whatever they undertake.
(4) Recognising Emotions in Others
Empathy is a fundamental ‘people skill’. Empathy builds on self-awareness. The
more open we are to our own emotions, the more skilled we will be in reaching
feelings. The failure to register another’s feelings is a major deficiency in emotional
intelligence and a tragic failing in what it means to be human. People who are
empathetic are more attuned to the subtle social signals that indicate what others
feel, need or want. They are more successful in caring professions, teaching, sales
and management.
(5) Handling Relationships
The art of relationships is, in large part, skill in managing emotions in others. These
are the abilities that strengthen popularity, leadership and interpersonal effectiveness.
People who excel in these skills do well in anything that relies on interacting smoothly
with others; they are social stars.
From the perspective of emotional intelligence, having hope means that one
will not be given into overwhelming anxiety, a defeatist attitude or depression in
the face of difficult challenges or setbacks. Optimism is an attitude that prevents
people against falling into apathy, hopelessness, or depression in the face of rough
going. According to Seligman, optimism means how people explain to themselves
their successes and failures. Optimistic people see failures as due to something
that can be changed so that they can succeed next time, while pessimists take the
blame for failure, ascribing it to some lasting characteristic they are helpless to
change.
People who have high emotional intelligence are socially poised, outgoing
and cheerful, not prone to fearfulness or worried ruminations. They have a notable
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Emotional Intelligence capacity for commitment to people or causes for taking responsibility and for
having an ethical outlook. They are sympathetic and caring in their relationships.
Their emotional life is rich. They are comfortable with themselves, others and the
social universe they live in.
NOTES
Implications of Emotional Intelligence on Managers
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is primarily based upon intra-personal intelligence
and involves a person’s emotional and social skills and consists of the following
five dimensions. Scholars are beginning to view these dimensions of emotional
intelligence in a hierarchy, where self-awareness is the lowest level and social skill
is the highest and most complex level. These dimensions are:
Self-awareness: The person is in touch with his own feelings and has the
desire and the capacity to understand other people’s feelings.
Self-regulation: This is the ability to control or redirect emotional extremes
and other impulsive behaviours. For example, if you are angry at a client or a
colleague, you control your emotions, keep calm and handle the situation
professionally and later talk out the emotions with a co-worker or a friend. Self-
regulation includes the ability to suspend judgement in order to think through the
consequences of behaviour rather than acting on impulse.
Self-motivation: The person is driven for achievement irrespective of the
rewards associated with such achievement. The achievement itself is a reward for
them. Even when they do not achieve their goals, they remain optimistic and have
a positive attitude.
Empathy: It is the ability to understand and be sensitive to the feelings,
thoughts and situations of others.
Social skill: This is the ability to manage emotions of other people. Social
skill includes the ability to build networks of relationships and it requires other
elements of emotional intelligence such as empathy and self-regulation.
Use of EQ as a Managerial Tool
According to Deerlove, companies are putting more emphasis on the emotional
dimension in evaluating leadership potential and focus on the importance of
understanding relationships. It is said that leaders with high emotional intelligence
tend to make personal connections with ease and are good at diffusing conflicting
and explosive situations. Superior performance as a leader is a function of both
the IQ and the EQ.
Many of the leaders have failed not because of low IQ but because of low
EQ, even when they had high IQ. Now the US Air force and others are realizing
that EQ is just as important as IQ in performing most responsible jobs. Most jobs
do involve social interaction so employees do need some aspects of emotional
intelligence to work effectively in social settings.
Daniel Goleman, is credited with his focus on importance of emotional
intelligence as compared to intellect or technical skills. He believed that at senior
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levels, emotional intelligence rather than rational intelligence distinguishes the true Emotional Intelligence

leader. He concluded that human competencies such as self-awareness, self-

discipline, persistence and empathy are of greater consequences than intellect as
measured by IQ. In a business that is occupied with analysis of information,
quantitative models, simulation and other cold analytical tools, emotional climate is NOTES
more important for the success of the organization than previously recognised.
Companies are re-evaluating the leadership characteristics they require for the
future. Some companies talk about “inward journeys” and “know thyself” concepts.
Emotional intelligence is a part of such re-evaluation.
Improving Emotional Intelligence and EI performance in an Organization
Emotional intelligence, in general, is associated with some inborn personality traits,
such as extroversion, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to
experience. It opens the debate whether EQ is inherited or whether it can be
learned, just as there is an active debate about leadership characteristics. However,
EQ can indeed be learnt to some extent. Just as many training organizations claim
that IQ can be improved with proper care and mentoring, some companies have
introduced seminars and training centres specifically for the purpose of improving
EQ of executives. Unlike other professions and skills that can be learnt in the
classroom setting or role playing, people do not develop emotional intelligence
simply by learning about its dimensions. It requires personal coaching, patience,
feedback and positive interaction. Emotional intelligence also increases with age
and maturity.
Overall, emotional intelligence offers considerable potential and with the
world in turmoil about diversity and differences in religion, race, gender and national
origin, the importance of emotional intelligence is further exemplified.
As we have learnt before, EI is becoming increasingly important as it is
considered to showcase better leadership skills, career success, team skills, and
personal relations of the employee, thereby affecting their overall work at the
organization.
Limitations of Emotional Intelligence
Some of the disadvantages of emotional intelligence are as follows:
 Time: Emotional intelligence cannot be learnt in a day. It takes time to
develop the skills necessary to fully harness emotional intelligence.
 Testing: It’s difficult to test for emotional intelligence. One of the main
concerns with testing methods is the debate on whether emotional intelligence
is based on a person’s temperament and personality or a learned response
developed through interpersonal skills and experiences.
 Negative Views: One drawback of emotional intelligence is that people
may not take the importance of emotional intelligence seriously.
 Misuse: The knowledge of emotional intelligence can be used to manipulate
others.
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Emotional Intelligence

Check Your Progress

1. What are the three aspects of instinctive behaviour?
NOTES 2. What are the effects of emotions on a developing individual?
3. What are negative emotions?
4. Define emotional intelligence.
5. List two limitations of emotional intelligence.

13.4 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

QUESTIONS

1. An instinctive behaviour has three aspects:

(i) Cognitive or knowing or the perceptual aspect.
(ii) Affection or feeling or emotional effects.
(iii) Conative or doing or striving or executive, active or the behavioural
aspect
2. The effects of emotion on developing individual are as follows:
 Emotions provide energy to an individual to face a particular situation.
 Emotions work as motivators of our behaviour.
 Emotions influence our adjustment in the society.
 Highly emotional conditions disturb the mental equilibrium of an individual.
 Highly emotional conditions disturb the reasoning and thinking of an
individual.
3. Unpleasant emotions like anger, fear and jealousy which are harmful to the
individual’s development are termed as negative emotions.
4. According to Goleman, emotional intelligence includes self-control, zeal,
persistence, and the ability to motivate oneself. Emotional intelligence, once
developed, can create the avenue for a productive, rewarding and fulfilling
life.
5. The limitations of emotional intelligence are as follows:
 Time: Emotional intelligence cannot be learnt in a day. It takes time to
develop the skills necessary to fully harness emotional intelligence.
 Negative Views: One drawback of emotional intelligence is that people
may not take the importance of emotional intelligence seriously.

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 Emotional Intelligence
13.5 SUMMARY

 Etymologically the word emotion is derived from the Latin word emovere
which means to stir up, to agitate or to excite. NOTES
 According to Crow and Crow (1973), an emotion ‘is an effective experience
that accompanies generalized inner adjustment and mental and psychological
stirred up states in the individual, and that shows itself in his own behaviour’.
 Emotions, in general can be categorized into two kinds—positive emotions
and negative emotions.
 Emotional development of an individual is influenced by a number of
factors—health and physical development, intelligence, family environment,
school environment, peer groups’ environment, neighbourhood, community
and society’s environment.
 The psychologist Salovey defines emotional intelligence as the process of
learning to understand our own emotions, learning to understand the emotions
of others, gaining proficiency in positive emotional responses in oneself,
and recognizing and accepting the emotional responses of others.
 Self-awareness is a key stone of emotional intelligence. It means recognizing
a feeling as it happens. The ability to monitor one’s feelings from movement
to movement is crucial to psychological insight and self-understanding
whereas the inability to notice our true feelings leaves us at their mercy.
 Emotional intelligence is primarily based upon intra-personal intelligence
and involves a person’s emotional and social skills and consists of the
following five dimensions.
 Emotional intelligence, in general, is associated with some inborn personality
traits, such as extroversion, conscientiousness, emotional stability and
openness to experience.

13.6 KEY WORDS

 Emotional Development: It refers to the ability to recognize, express,

and manage feelings at different stages of life and to have empathy for the
feelings of others.
 Emotional Intelligence: Emotional intelligence refers to the process of
understanding one’s own emotions as well as learning to comprehend the
emotions of others. Along with this, the proficiency in positive emotional
responses in oneself, and recognising and accepting the emotional responses
of others is referred to as emotional intelligence.
 Jealousy: It means to be upset and angry because someone that you love
seems interested in another person.
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Emotional Intelligence  Self Awareness: It is the capacity for introspection and the ability to
recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other
individuals. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia.

NOTES
13.7 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND
EXERCISES

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the traits of emotional intelligence?
2. What are the implications of emotional intelligence on managers?
3. How does emotional intelligence contribute in performing better in an
organization?
4. Write a short note on emotional intelligence as a managerial tool.
Long Answer Questions
1 ‘Self-awareness is the key stone of emotional intelligence.’ Explain the
statement.
2. Discuss how to manage emotions.
3. Do you think that emotional intelligence is relevant in the present global
scenario? Give reasons for your answer.

13.8 FURTHER READINGS

Mishra, M.N. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Noida: Vikas Publishing House.

Robbins, Stephen P. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
Davis, Keith. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New
York: McGraw Hill.
Singh, Kavita. 2015. Organizational Behaviour: Text and Cases, 3rd Edition.
Noida: Vikas Publishing House.
Gordon, Judith R. 2001. Organizational Behavior: A Diagnostic. New Delhi:
Prentice Hall.
Aswathappa, K. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd.

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 Power, Politics and

UNIT 14 POWER, POLITICS AND Impression Management

IMPRESSION
NOTES
MANAGEMENT
Structure
14.0 Introduction
14.1 Objectives
14.2 Power, Authority and Influence
14.3 Impression Management
14.4 Source of Power in Organizations
14.5 Organizational Politics
14.6 Ethics of Power and Politics
14.7 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
14.8 Summary
14.9 Key Words
14.10 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
14.11 Further Readings

14.0 INTRODUCTION

The previous unit discussed emotional intelligence. This unit will discuss
organizational power, politics and impression management. There is a difference
between power and authority as the latter is legitimate and approved by the
organization. This unit will delve into the various sources of power in organizations.
Further on, the unit will also discuss organizational politics and the factors affecting
the political orientation of organizations. Organizational politics alludes to numerous
activities associated with the use of influence tactics to enhance one’s personal or
organizational interests. Research studied conducted in this area have reflected
that individuals with political skills are more adept in gaining personal power as
well as in fulfilling job demand and in managing stress.

14.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 Understand the nature and characteristics of power
 Discuss the sources and types of power
 Define impression management
 Discuss the existence of political behaviour in organizations
 Understand organizational politics and the ethics of power and politics
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Power, Politics and
Impression Management 14.2 POWER, AUTHORITY AND INFLUENCE

Power and politics are the words that have negative connotations in the American
NOTES society. We are uncomfortable with the concept of power. Our perception of
power is that it manipulates people and this idea does not go well with us. It is
meant to extract compliance and enforce obedience and this conflicts with our
democratic culture of freedom and rights. Politics is closely related with power,
for only powerful people can play politics and get away with it. Whenever we say
‘there is a lot of politics in this college or organization’ we mean that decisions are
made on the basis of the point of view of the powerful rather than what is just and
fair.
Power differs from authority as authority is the right of decision and command
and it is legitimate. Further, authority is also approved by the organizational structure
and is freely accepted by all. The legitimate use of authority and acceptance of it is
designated as ‘psychological contract’.
According to Henry L. Tosi, John R Rizzo and Stephen J Carroll, ‘The
psychological contract is the mutual set of expectations which exist between an
organization and an individual. These expectations cover what pay the individual
will receive as well as the whole pattern of rights and privileges of the person. In
return, the individual is expected to contribute both work and some commitment.’
Legitimate authority gives the person legitimate power and as long as the commands
issued fall within the boundaries of psychological contract, the person will comply.
These commands are not considered as use of power of two reasons. Firstly, it is
because the person who issues the command is fully authorized to do so and
secondly, the ‘psychological contract’ is based on mutual consent. It is the use of
power outside the boundaries of ‘psychological contract’ is based on mutual
consent. It is the use of power outside the boundaries of ‘psychological contract’,
which is resented by people. It could also be called ‘misuse of power’.
According to John K. Galbraith, power is defined as the ‘possibility of
imposing one’s will on the behaviour of others’. The essence of power is control
over the behaviour of others. Power is also a reflection of influence that one person
may have over others. If you are able to convince another person to agree to your
views or change his or her own opinion on a given issue, you have exercised
influence over the other person and thus power has been used.

14.3 IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT

The desire to make a favourable impression on others is universal. In one way or

another, we all do things to attempt to control how other people perceive us, often
attempting to get them to think of us in the best light possible. Impression
management refers to the process used by individuals to control the impression
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others form of them. Therefore, it would be a mistake to think that the person who Power, Politics and
Impression Management
is at the receiving end of being evaluated is passive and the only person active in
the process is the perceiver. The employment interview is an organizational context
in which this process is at work (Fletcher 1989).
NOTES
The impression that prospective employers form may be based on subtle
behaviours, such as how we dress and speak, or more elaborate acts, such as
announcing our accomplishments (Giacalone and Rosenfeld 1989). It may be the
result of calculated efforts to get others to think of us in a certain way or be the
passive, unintended effects of our actions (Greenberg 1990). Impression
management might involve direct attempts to make ourselves look better—through
self-enhancing behaviour (such as improving one’s appearance, and namedropping,
claiming association with highly regarded others, as well as attempts to make others
feel better about themselves) and other enhancing behaviour (such as by flattering
them, and showing your approvals for the things they say) (Fiske and Neuberg
1990).
The things people do to create favourable impressions also have beneficial
effects on their relationships with others. For example, it has been found that
supervisors feel better towards those subordinates who are successful at cultivating
positive impressions (such as by using self-enhancing and other enhancing tactics)
than those who are less skilled at doing so. Not surprisingly, supervisors also
enjoy friendlier and more open communication links with such individuals (Wayne
and Kacmar 1991). Similarly, it has been found that subordinates who engage in
impression management are more liked by their supervisors, and such liking, in
turn, enhances the quality of social interaction between them (Wayne and Ferris
1990).
The target person could set out to generate a favourable impression through
a variety of tactics. Some of these tactics, as identified by Rosenfeld, Giacalone
and Riordan (1995) are as follows:
 Name-dropping—to create an impression that one is well connected
and an expert as a means to support one’s judgement
 Disclosing obstacles—to stress the real or imaginary barriers that one
has removed in the past to bring about a successful outcome, as if to say
that is what you would expect from an able performer
 Doing favours—to either appear to do something concrete to help the
person one is trying to impress or appear to do so in order to receive a
favourable evaluation
 Flattery—to convey nice things about the person one is trying to influence
(e.g. the interviewer)
 Opinion conformity—to back the opinion or views of the person one is
trying to impress so as to get her on your side

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Power, Politics and  Playing dumb—to give the impression that one cannot do certain tasks,
Impression Management
in the hope that one can avoid them, thereby creating the space to do
things one really likes
 Playing safe—to give the impression that one is not prone to making
NOTES
mistakes
It would be foolish to overestimate the power of impression management;
eventually, the person lacking credibility may not be able to present the correct
image all the time and is exposed. Others may lack the personality characteristics
to project the right image. But it is suggested that if the target personality
presentation of the self is in line with his self-concept, the perceivers (e.g.
interviewers) could be convinced of the substance of the image projected (Swann
and Ely 1984). Apparently, the way we see ourselves (self-perception) is crucial
when arriving at a conclusion about what others think of us (Kenny and DePaulo
1993).
Impressions can also be made by organizations as a whole. The impression
an organization makes on people can have a considerable effect on the way it
relates to it in the context of job recruitment; not only do candidates want to make
good impressions on prospective employees, but also want their job offer to be
accepted by the best candidates.

14.4 SOURCE OF POWER IN ORGANIZATIONS

A person in an organizational setting can have power from two sources. These are
interpersonal sources and organizationally based structural sources as shown below:

Source: Based upon Don Hellriegel, John W. Slocum and Richard W. Woodman,
“Organizational Behaviour”, West Publishing, 1986, p.462.

These sources are explained in further details as follows:

Interpersonal Sources of Power
These sources of power focus on the interpersonal relationships between manager
and the subordinates. John R.P. French and Bertram Raven have identified five
general types of power which are based upon interpersonal relationships. These
are:
Legitimate power: This is the power that is vested in the leadership to
take certain actions. For example, a manager’s position in the organization gives
him the power over his subordinates in his specific area of responsibility. The
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subordinates will favourably respond to a manager’s directives because they Power, Politics and
Impression Management
recognize and acknowledge the manager’s legitimate rights to prescribe certain
behaviours expected of subordinates. Legitimate power is similar to formal authority
so that it can be created, granted, changed or withdrawn by the formal organizations.
NOTES
The structure of the organization also identifies the strength of the legitimate
authority by position location. Higher level positions exercises more power than
lower level positions in a classical hierarchical organizational structure. For highly
mechanistic organizations, the legitimate power for each position is closely specified.
In more democratic type of situations, the superiors and subordinates may be on
equal footing.
Similarly, to some degree, legitimate power can also be given by society to
a particular leader, who has been elected by the populace. For example, the
president of a country or an elected mayor of a city has certain power and authority.
This power may also be culturally specified. In many cultures, children simply
‘obey’ their parents. In some other cultures, people of certain castes are highly
respected. In the tribes of Africa and Middle East, the tribal chiefs have traditionally
enjoyed the power and authority over their people. In India, old age brings with it
the power to command respect.
Reward power: A second base of power is the extent to which one person
has control over rewards that are valued by another. The greater the perceived
values of such rewards, the greater the power. These rewards can be extrinsic in
nature with tangible values. For example, if a manager has total control over the
pay his subordinates get, their work assignment and their promotions, then the
manager can be considered to have a high level of reward power. Similarly, the
chairman of a division in a college or a university holds considerable power in
reappointments, tenures and promotions for the faculty of his division.
Reward power can extend beyond extrinsic rewards. It may include such
subjective and intrinsic rewards as praise and recognition. If the subordinate is
interested in acceptance and recognition of his contributions and the manager can
provide such rewards, then this serves as an additional form of reward power.
Coercive power: On the other end of the reward power is the coercive
power which is the ability to influence punishment. It reflects the extent to which a
manager can deny desired rewards or administer punishment to control other
people. The more sanctions a manger is able to bear upon others, the stronger is
his coercive power. Some managers belittle the efforts of others in front of their
peers and get away with it. To that degree, they possess the coercive power. The
coercive power, which is the power to reprimand, demote or fire subordinates for
unsatisfactory performance is seldom exercised because of the cost involved in
the form of employee resentment and hostility.
Expert power: It is more of a personal power rather than an organizational
power. It is the ability to control another person’s behaviour through the possession
of knowledge and expertise that the other person needs and does not possess
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Power, Politics and himself. For example, a subordinate will obey the superior simply because the
Impression Management
subordinates believes that the superior ‘knows’ what is to be done and how it is to
be done. Similarly, the computer experts who are designing a computer information
system for a company will dictate the design and operations of the system and
NOTES their expertise power will be accepted.
Similarly, we generally follow our doctor’s or our accountant’s advice and
instructions because we believe in their ability and knowledge in those specified
areas. Thus if the subordinates view their leaders as competent, they would follow
their leaders.
Referent power: It is also known as charismatic power and is based upon
the attraction exerted by one individual over another. It is more of a personal
nature rather than a positional nature in the sense that this power is not designated
or acquired because of a position but because of personal ‘charisma’ so that the
‘followers’ feel inclined to associate themselves with the ‘leaders’. The stronger
the association, the stronger is the power. This association means that the
subordinate would obey his superior because he wants to behave in the same
manner as the superior and the subordinate identifies himself with the superior.
This referent power also extends to film stars and celebrities whose followers and
fans follow what the celebrities do.
Structural and Situational Sources of Power
The five bases of power that we have discussed relate to interpersonal power that
the managers have over their subordinates. In addition, there is another dimension
of power. This dimension involves structural and situational sources within the
organization and includes knowledge as power, resources as power, decision
making as power and link with others as power.
Knowledge as power: All organization use information to operate. Thus
individuals or groups who possess knowledge critical to the attainment of
organizational goals and objectives have power. The correct utilization of information
is very important for effective organizational operations. Accordingly, people who
are in a position to control the information itself or the flow of information about
current operations or future events and plans have enormous power to influence
the behaviour of others.
Resources as powers: Resources are the backbone of organizations. They
simply cannot survive without the adequate availability of all the necessary resources.
These resources include capital, personnel, equipment, raw materials, customers
and so on. Any person who can provide resources that are critical to the organization
acquires such power. Thus, suppliers of monopolized scarce raw materials can
dictate their own prices. The old saying that ‘he who has the gold makes the rules’
sums up the idea that resources are power.
Decision making as power: The authority to make decisions or the ability
to influence the decision makers are both sources of power. The decision making
power does not necessarily rest with the final decision maker. Even though the
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decision makers act, the real power may be with those who strongly influence the Power, Politics and
Impression Management
decision maker. For example, when you buy a particular car on the advice of a
friend, it is the friend who holds the power to buy the car, even if you acted upon
it. Similarly, a task force formed to study an issue and give recommendations may
not have the power to make the final decision, but the decision maker is more NOTES
likely to be influenced by the task force recommendations. Thus, the task force
holds the decision making power in a subtle way.
Acquiring Power
All managers have a two-dimensional power base. One is the power generated
because of the position of the manager in the hierarchy of the organization and the
second is the personal power. A successful manager is the one who has built up
high positional as well as personal power base.
The position power can be built and enhanced by some of the factors
proposed by David A. Whetten and Kim S. Cameron. These factors are as follows:
Centrality: Centrality refers to the activities that are most central to the
work flow of the organization. If the information filters through the manager and
gives the manager some say in the work of many work subunits, then the manager
has acquired some positional power. For example, the manager of the accounting
department or finance department is central in approving expenses and making
payments of all departments in the firm, giving the manager an extra power base to
affect the behaviour of other departments.
Scarcity: When resources are scarce but critical to organizational operations
and there is a struggle for acquiring these resources, then the winner of the struggle
acquires power. When unlimited resources are available in capital, space or support
staff, there will hardly be any reason for spending energies in pursuit of power for
such power would have no influence on the smooth functioning of the organization.
It is only when cutbacks occur in these resources that the differences in power will
become apparent. According to a study conducted in a large University, G.R
Salanick and J. Pfeffer found that the power of academic departments was
associated with their ability to obtain funds from research grants and other outside
sources and this was more critical to their power than the number of undergraduates
taught by the department.
Uncertainty: Uncertainty about future events can play havoc with strategic
plans and other financial or product commitments of organizations. Some of the
sources of uncertainty may reflect reduction in supply and demand resources,
changes in government policies that affect organizational environment or economic
recession. Such people or subunits who can predict such uncertainty or who are
most capable of coping with uncertainty will tend to acquire power. According to
R.M Kanter,
‘The most power goes to those people in those functions that provide greater
control over what the organizations find currently problematic: sales and marketing
people when markets are competitive; production experts when materials are
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Power, Politics and scarce and demand is high; personnel or labor relations specialists when labor is
Impression Management
scarce; lawyers, lobbyists and external relations specialists when government
regulations impinge; finance and accounting types when business is bad and money
tight. There is a turning to those elements of the system that seem to have the
NOTES power to create more certainty in the face of dependency, and to generate a more
advantageous position for the organization.’
Substitutability: Even though in philosophical terms nobody is indispensable
and ‘life must go on’, there are some people whose contributions to the organization
make them more indispensable than others. This indispensability is the result of
such specialty and expertise that cannot be substituted easily by others. However,
a change in the marketability of such specialty may change the power base as
well. According to D. Kipnis, ‘In the 1950s, when there were relatively few
engineers to service an expanding American economy, engineers had great prestige
and power. They could force employers to provide them with large salaries and
benefits, by threatening to withhold their services. By the early 1970s, however,
many persons became engineers and consequently the bargaining power of
engineers with employers was practically nil’. Similarly in the late 1960s and 1970s,
the computer analysts were in great demand and thus wielded extensive power in
the organizations. Thus, the greater the value of a person or a group in the
organization, the greater power it holds.

Check Your Progress

1. What are general types of power on the basis of interpersonal relationship?
2. What is the criterion of utility?

14.5 ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS

Politics has been defined by J. Pffeffer as ‘those activities taken within organizations
to acquire, develop and use power and other resources to obtain ones preferred
outcomes in a situation in which there is uncertainty or dissensus about choices’.
Pffeffer further notes:
‘If power is a force, a store of potential influence through which
events can be affected, politics involves those activities or behaviours
through which power is developed and used in organizational settings.
Power is a property of the system at rest; politics is the study of
power in action. An individual, sub-unit or department may have power
within an organizational context at some period of time; politics
involves the exercises of power to get something accomplished, as
well as those activities which are undertaken to expand the power
already possessed or the scope over which it can be exercised.’

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 It is clear that political behaviour is designed and initiated to overcome Power, Politics and
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opposition or resistance. If there is no opposition, there is no need for politics.
Opposition and resistance is bound to occur in all organizations because of severe
competition for scarce resources. In fact, R.H. Miles has identified five major
reasons that have strong influence on political orientation of organizations. These NOTES
are as follows:
Scarcity of resources: As discussed before, any person or subunit who
has control over allocations of scarce resources yields power. Also, political influence
plays an important part in how these resources will be distributed to various
departments rather than rational needs.
Non-programmed decisions: Non-programmed decisions involve unique
problems which cannot be solved by known and structured methods and
procedures. These unique problems involve many factors and variables that are
ambiguous in nature, leaving room for political manoeuvring by those who have
the knowledge and techniques to successfully confront and solve such complex
problems. Such non-programmed decision are likely to be made in the areas of
strategic planning, merges and acquisitions, policy changes and so on.
Ambiguous goals: When the goals of an organization are clearly defined
and each member of the organization is aware of these goals and is also aware of
his role in contributing towards achievement of such goals, then there are limited
grounds for political influence. However, when the goals of a department or the
entire organization are ambiguous, then more room is available for playing politics.
Technology and environment: Organizational effectiveness is largely a
function of the organization’s ability to appropriately respond to external environment
which is highly dynamic and generally unpredictable as well as the ability to
adequately adapt to complex technological developments. Thus, political behaviour
increases when the internal technology is complex and external environment is
highly volatile.
Organizational change: Whenever there are changes in the organizational
structure or rearrangement of organization politics, people in powerful positions
have the opportunity to play political games. These changes may include restructuring
of a division or creating a new division, personnel changes, and introducing a new
product line; these are all invitations to political processes when various individuals
and groups try to control the given situation.
All the above reasons apply to most organizations because the resources
are continuously becoming scarce and competitive and the ever changing technology
makes the environment more complex to handle, requiring organizations to
continuously evaluate their goals and strategies. This would make most organizations
political in nature so that managers in responsible positions become sensitive to
political processes and games in order to play their role in acquiring and maintaining
political power.

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Power, Politics and It is widely accepted that managers have to be politicians in order to maintain
Impression Management
their positions in the organizational hierarchy as well as serve the interests of their
units. Pfeffer, who has done extensive research on the subject of power in
organizations, in reviewing his study states as follows:
NOTES
‘If there is one concluding message, it is that it is probably effective and it is
certainly normal that these managers do behave as politicians. It is even better that
some of them are quite effective at it. In situations in which technologies are
uncertain, preferences are conflicting, perceptions are selective and biased and
information processing capacities are constrained, the model of an effective politician
may be an appropriate one for both the individual and for the organization in the
long run.’
Techniques of Political Play
While all members of an organization may exhibit political behaviour, it is natural
to assume that the higher the positional status of the member, the more intense the
political play would be. Accordingly, a more successful political player is more
likely to succeed in his personal and political ambitions than those who are politically
naïve or incompetent.
Even though the political play style will vary with the situation at hand, there
are certain guidelines which can be adopted to gain and use political power. Some
of these guidelines and strategies that can be used are:
Cultivate the right allies: There is strength in number and more people
you have on your side the more political power you will have. It is necessary,
however, to have the alliance with the right people. Alliance with people who are
rising up the corporate ladder is much more advantageous than alliance with those
whose careers are on the decline. It is necessary and useful to be friends with
upper level management and it may also be obviously advantageous to form alliance
with the boss’s secretary or someone who is close to the powerful person. In
academic institutions where promotions and reappointments are primarily at the
discretion of the divisional chairperson, a favourable association with the chairperson
is highly beneficial.
Count on reciprocity: As a general rule, it is good to help others and do
favours for them. It should also be natural to assume that these favours will be
returned at the time of need. Accordingly, recognize those members of the
organization who will be more powerful in the future and help them in any way you
can so that if and when you need them later they will return your favour by coming
to your assistance.
Try to be positively popular: Most people like to be appreciated and
complemented. When you appreciate other people they will think very positively
towards you. Do not talk ill of any person. Always talk good of others especially

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when they are not present. This will create extensive goodwill about you and this Power, Politics and
Impression Management
will always come in useful whenever you would need their support.
Learn to be persuasive without being arrogant: It is necessary to
develop friendly persuasive techniques. Forceful arguments when stated eloquently
NOTES
are often highly effective in influencing others as well as gaining respect for your
intelligence and ability. As a result, the payoffs can be substantial.
Build your image: Image building is a subtle form of behaviour and a
positive impression on others is reflected by our personality, appearance and style.
Some of the factors that enhance a preferred image are being well dressed, having
a pleasant smile, being attentive, honest, sociable and loyal to the organizational
interests. In addition, always project an image of competence and self-assurance.
Be on top of everything and work hard and be associated with successful projects.
Control information: One technique of political behaviour is to control
the dissemination of critical information to others. Releasing good or bad news
when it is likely to have its fullest impact can promote someone’s self-interest and
may thwart the hopes of others. The more critical the information and fewer the
people who have it, the stronger the powerbase of those who possess such
information. For example, if a manager comes to know that a subordinate would
be reprimanded for some actions and if he informs the subordinate so that the
subordinate can prepare an adequate and timely defense, then the manager has
gained some power over the subordinate for future use.
Control communication channels: People who may be in low level
hierarchical positions but have some control over lines of communications can
yield considerable political power. For example, secretaries frequently control
access to their bosses. The secretary may have considerable power in deciding
who sees the boss and who doesn’t at a given time. She may use this power in
favouring those whom she likes and frustrating those against whom she may have
a grudge.
Some Devious Political Tactics
Politics is considered a dirty game as politicians would use any and all possible
means, irrespective of their validity on ethical grounds, to obtain and retain their
power base. While it is possible to acquire political strength through honest means
such as expertise, seniority and integrity, there are other devious tactics which may
be difficult to defend on moral grounds. Nevertheless, they are used extensively.
Some of these techniques are as follows:
Embrace or demolish: Sometimes it becomes necessary to make decisions
and take actions that are unpopular such as demoting or transferring someone.
Such a person who is demoted or transferred against his will, is likely to become
your political enemy. It may be politically advantageous move to have this person

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Power, Politics and fired so that he will not be there to take revenge at a later date. This is especially
Impression Management
significant during corporate takeovers. According to Anthony Jay,
‘This guiding principle is that senior men in taken-over firms should either
be warmly welcomed and encouraged or sacked, because if they are sacked they
NOTES
are powerless, whereas if they are simply downgraded they will remain united and
resentful and determined to get their own power back.’
Divide and Rule: If effective, this is the most successful and powerful
tactic to retain political power. Historians have recorded the fact that the British
ruled India by pursuing the policy of dividing the Indians on the basis of caste and
religion. The assumption underlying this strategy is that those who are divided will
not form coalitions themselves, thus making them weak in any confrontations. By
encouraging bickering among possible rivals, it is possible to keep them
continuously off balance so that they will never get together to mount a successful
attack against you. However, it is a risky technique; if the rivals become aware of
such devious schemes, they can get together for the sole purpose of unseating you
from your power base.
Exclude the opposition: Another technique of getting your own way is to
make sure that any opposition is absent at important meetings as such oppositions
can block your desired outcomes. This could be done by holding such meetings at
a time when rivals are away either on business trips or on vacation. With the
opposition absent, it is possible to influence the decision making process in your
favour. One historically significant incident relating to this technique occurred at
the United Nations during the Korean War. In order to send U.N. troops to
Korea, it was necessary to have a unanimous decision to do so at the Security
Council. However, the representative from the Soviet Union was holding out and
was vehemently against this resolution. By keeping the heated discussion on, and
by frustrating the efforts of the Soviet Union representative, it was made possible
for him to walk out in anger and protest. Thus, the opposition being absent, the
resolution to send U.N. troops to Korea was passed.
Political Blunders
Political career is considered to be the most unstable and volatile career and some
political mistakes can be very costly. Many brilliant political careers have been
totally ruined by disclosures of such mistakes which were politically unwise. Since
playing right politics is an important ingredient of corporate success, it is necessary
to avoid some identifiable political mistakes that are known to have negative
consequences. Some of these political blunders are:
Sticking to the losing side: While loyalty has its advantages, sticking with
a person whose power is on the decline will result in decline of your power as
well. Your survival instinct should guide you as to when to change side in order to
gain maximum advantages. Moral and ethical considerations usually do not affect
such decisions to defect to the winning side.

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 Violating chain of command: Most organizations are highly structured Power, Politics and
Impression Management
in a classical fashion and the communication channels are clearly defined. It is
expected that all personnel follow the established guidelines in relation to the flow
of authority through these channels. Some people make the mistake of going over
their bosses to their superiors for problems within their own department and even NOTES
if such action has justifiable grounds, it is not considered wise to do so. These
problems must be discussed with the immediate boss. Only if these problems are
not solved at this level, should the higher ups be approached. Breaking chain of
command is considered an organizational taboo and should be avoided as far as
possible.
Being temperamental: Since problems are unavoidable and not all
problems have immediate solutions, keeping cool under pressure is highly desirable
of successful politicians. Grace under pressure is indicative of courage and wisdom.
Showing anger and acting aggressively towards others can be political suicide.
Usually, anger is shown towards people rather than things or situations and in such
anger it is more likely to make wrong moves or blame others. This could lead to
creating rivals and rivals never help. These rivals could further create situations
that would excite your anger and most people do not show respect to those who
lose their temper.
Creating conflict with top management: Top management is usually
very sensitive to their authority and they are known to use their power in
reprimanding those who disagree with their position or their authority to issue
assignments. Saying no to top management or trying to avoid undertaking extra
responsibility can be a costly mistake. If a person feels that he is being overburdened
by excessive assignments he must discuss the matter with the top management to
reach an understanding of such assignments rather than simply saying no, or
deliberately avoiding such assignments or doing a poor job after accepting the
assignment. For example, if a professor in a college is denied promotion, he should
accept the decision and logically reason it out with the Dean and the President,
unless he has a tenure with outstanding credentials, in which case he may be willing
to confront the situation. By and large, however, confronting top management is a
politically unwise step.
Managing Political Behaviour
Though it is virtually impossible to eliminate political behaviour in organizations, it
is possible to contain it in such a manner as to limit its dysfunctional consequences.
Politics when carried to the extreme can damage morale, create enemies, destroy
loyalty, damper cooperative spirit and much time and energy is spent planning
attacks and counter-attacks which are detrimental to organizational health.
Accordingly, combating politics must be undertaken by the top management
primarily by such guidelines that would limit political plays. Some of the steps that
can be taken for purpose of constraining political activity are summarized as follows:

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Power, Politics and Positive role model: It is said that corruption begins at the top; the lower
Impression Management
level people will be corrupt and play politics only when such tactics are accepted
or ignored by the top management. Thus if a manager plays political games, he is
conveying a message to his subordinates that such conduct is acceptable.
NOTES Accordingly, the top management must provide a positive and ethical role model
themselves and make it clear to subordinates that such political manoeuvring will
not be accepted which is detrimental to employee morale and organizational climate.
Open communication: Since political behaviour is a function of control
over resources, information and lines of communication, open and honest
communication is an effective technique in constraining the effects of political
behaviour. If the lines of communication are open to all and the necessary information
is available to all including the information regarding the availability and allocation
of scarce resources, then it would not be necessary to engage in political behaviour
in order to acquire or control these resources.
Reduce uncertainty: Politics seems to be more prevalent when overall
purposes and organizational goals are ambiguous, expectations of subordinates
are not clear and organizational changes are not made known to all. These elements
of uncertainty can provide grounds for political play. Thus, political behaviour can
be limited if such uncertainty can be reduced or eliminated. This can be done by
giving well-defined assignments to all employees and making it clear as to what
the management’s expectations of the employees are relative to the achievement
of clearly defined organizational goals. Thus, participative decision making and
making all relevant information known to all members of the organization at the
appropriate time and helping them integrate their personal objectives with
organizational objectives will reduce the necessity of political game play.
Study the political phenomenon: It is important that top management
be aware of the psychology and philosophy of political behaviour. Simply being
aware of the causes and techniques of political behaviour can minimize their effects.
This knowledge could prepare the top management not only in combating political
behaviour when it occurs but also in anticipating it and taking appropriate steps to
avoid it from occurring. For example, recognising certain members who could
oppose such a change. By being aware of such possibility, the management can
take steps to stop such a coalition from forming or take appropriate measures to
successfully confront such a coalition, should it form.
Machiavellianism
Niccolo Machiavelli, an Italian philosopher and statesman (1469–1527), was one
of the earliest writers, whose best known writings include a set of suggestions for
obtaining and maintaining political power. He also compared political effectiveness
with prevalent perceptions of morality and ethics. Based upon his writings,
‘Machiavellianism’ has come to be known as a set of beliefs about human nature,
and a person’s ability to use various tactics, irrespective of their moral value, in
order to achieve his ambitions.
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 R. Christie and F.L. Geis have tried to formulate an attitude scale in Power, Politics and
Impression Management
conformity with some basic tenets of Machiavelli’s writings in order to measure
the extent to which an individual follows Machiavelli’s views. This attitude is known
as ‘Mach Scale’. The characteristics of people who are high on Mach Scale are
as follows: NOTES
 They have high self-esteem and self-confidence and behave in their own
self-interest even at the expense of others.
 They are considered by others as cool and calculating and they would
not hesitate to take advantages of others.
 They tend to form alliances with people in power for the sole purpose of
benefiting themselves.
 They believe that the end justify the means even if it involves lies, deceit
and moral compromise.
 They manipulate others by false flatter and exaggerated praise and they
will make friends only for the purpose of using them.
 They have a very unfavourable view of human nature. They believe that
‘anyone who completely trusts anyone else is asking for trouble’.
 They will say what others want to hear but they will not let others stand
in the way of their personal gain.
 They are on the look-out and select situations where their tactics would
work most effectively such as face-to-face emotional, unstructured and
ambiguous conditions.
 They are able to exert control over such unclear situations.
In general Machiavellian individuals are believed to engage in political
behaviour more often. Machiavellianism may be good predictor of political behaviour
in many organizational situations. A study conducted by Woodman, Wayne and
Rubinsten concluded that of all the variables responsible for an individual’s political
behaviour, Machiavellianism was found to have the strongest effect on the political
tendency of an organizational member. Accordingly, management must be aware
of such individuals within the organization and be prepared to take responsible
measures to counter any damaging initiatives by such individuals.

14.6 ETHICS OF POWER AND POLITICS

Power and authority used in the line of duty is not only ethical but is also accepted
by all who are affected by it. Thus, such power is considered to be non-political in
use when it remains within the boundaries of formal authority, organizational policies
and procedures and when it is directed towards ends that are sanctioned by the
organization. It is either the misuse of power for personal benefit or the power
which violates the codes of organizational conduct that is considered as political
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Power, Politics and and requiring consideration of ethical standards. Some of the factors that differentiate
Impression Management
between political behaviour and non-political behaviour are enumerated by Joseph
F. Byrnes in the form of True and False questions which are given below along
with his interpretation of results.
NOTES
True False
1. You should make others feel important
through an open appreciation of their ideas
and work.
2. Because people tend to judge you when
they first meet you, always try to make
a good first impression.
3. Try to let others do most of the talking, be
sympathetic to their problems and resist
telling people that they are totally wrong.
4. Praise the good traits of the people you meet
and always give people an opportunity to save
face if they are wrong or make a mistake.
5. Spreading false rumours, planting misleading
information and backstabbing are necessary if
somewhat unpleasant methods to deal with
your enemies.
6. Sometimes it is necessary to make promises
that you know you will not keep or cannot
keep.
7. It is important to get along with everybody,
even with those who are generally recognized
as windbags, abrasive, or constant
complainers.
8. It is vital to do favours for others so that you
can call in these IOUs at times when they will
do you the most good.
9. Be willing to compromise, particularly on
issues that are minor to you, but important to
others.
10. On controversial issues, it is important do
delay or avoid your involvement if possible.

Interpretation
(a) A real politician will answer ‘True’ to all ten questions.
(b) Politicians with fundamental ethical standards will answer ‘False’ to questions
5 and 6
(c) Non politicians will answer ‘False’ to all or most of the questions.

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 As the above interpretation makes it clear, a real politician will answer ‘True’ Power, Politics and
Impression Management
to all questions and his code of ethics is evident from his answers to questions 5
and 6.
Ethics is probably the most difficult concept to define. The idea of morality
NOTES
or right and wrong is very intangible in nature. The concept of ethics and morality
may have some identifiable aspects that can be considered as universally acceptable,
but much of it may be defined with reference to the values established by a particular
society. In general, determination of ethical conduct is subjective and vague, varying
among different cultures and different environment conditions. However, some
standards have been established against which ethical conduct can be measured
for judgmental purposes. Velasquez, Moberg and Cavanagh have made extensive
studies regarding ethics and politics and have provided a way of looking at possible
political behaviours from an ethical perspective. They have presented three types
of criteria for evaluating the ethics of organizational politics and in general all these
criteria must be satisfied in order for political behaviour to be considered ethical.
These criteria are:
Criterion of utility: In this approach, the judgement about the morality of
an act is made on the basis of the degree of happiness it provides to the society as
a whole. Moral acts are those that produce the greatest good for the greatest
number of people. The behaviour would be considered less than ethical if it does
not result in the optimization of satisfaction of most people.
Criterion of rights: All human being have certain basic and fundamental
rights that need to be protected and respected. The rights most likely to be violated
by organizational politics are:
 The right of free consent: All people should be treated as they freely
consent to be treated.
 The right of privacy: Every human being has a right to choose his own
life style outside of working hours, including the right to deny access to
information regarding his private life.
 The right to freedom of conscience: It is the right to refuse to carry out
any instructions that violate a person’s moral or ethical standards or
religious beliefs to which he adheres.
 The right to free speech: It is the right to speak freely about any and all
issues, including the right to criticize others regarding ethical, legal and
righteous grounds as long as it does not infringe upon the rights of the
others.
 The right of due process: Everyone has a right to have a fair hearing of
any complaints or issues which violate a person’s rights.

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Power, Politics and Criterion of justice: All people have a right to be treated equally and
Impression Management
equitably relative to their responsibilities and contributions. All administrative rules
and regulations should be administrated fairly for all and no person should be
subjected to arbitrary decisions and actions.
NOTES
These criteria refer to an ideal state and is often difficult to apply because
adequate and correct information of a given situation is not always available. Some
of these criteria are sufficiently ambiguous so that a clear cut interpretation is not
feasible. The criterion of rights is probably the most consistently usable. That is,
perhaps one reason as to why unethical political behaviour works so often and
people who use such behaviour can justify it by their own reasoning. According to
Paul W. Gellerman, people use four rationalizations in order to justify unethical
actions. These are:
1. Individuals feels that a particular behaviour is not really illegal and hence
can be considered as moral.
2. The action was taken with a view of best interests of the organization.
3. It does not matter as long as the action is not objected.
4. It appears that action demonstrates loyalty to the superiors or to the
organization.
All these rationalizations are weak and do not justify any action which may
be legal but ethically questionable. Loyalty to moral principles is more important
than loyalty to boss or the organizations. Accordingly, it must be clearly understood
that while some political manoeuvrability is avoidable in any organizational climate,
ethical considerations become very helpful to all individuals in the long run.

Check Your Progress

3. List any three characteristics of people who are high on the mach scale.
4. State the five factors influencing the political orientation of organizations.
5. Define Machiavellianism.

14.7 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

QUESTIONS

1. The general types of power on the basis of interpersonal relationship are:

legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, expert power and referent
power.

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 2. Criterion of utility is the approach that involves making a judgement about Power, Politics and
Impression Management
the morality of an act on the basis of the degree of happiness it provides to
the society as a whole.
3. The characteristics of people who are high on Mach Scale are as follows:
NOTES
 They have high self-esteem and self-confidence and behave in their own
self-interest even at the expense of others.
 They are considered by others as cool and calculating and they would
not hesitate to take advantages of others.
 They tend to form alliances with people in power for the sole purpose of
benefiting themselves.
4. The five factors influencing the political orientation of organizations are
scarcity of resources, non-programmed decisions, ambiguous goals,
technology and environment, and organizational change.
5. Based on Niccolo Machiavelli’s writings, ‘Machiavellianism’ has come to
be known as a set of beliefs about human nature, and a person’s ability to
use various tactics, irrespective of their moral value, in order to achieve his
ambitions.

14.8 SUMMARY

 The word ‘power’ and ‘politics’ has negative connotations as the general
perception is that power is used to enforce obedience. Politics is closely
related to power as only powerful people can play politics and get away
with it.
 Power differs from authority as authority is the right of decision and command
and it is legitimate. Further, authority is also approved by the organizational
structure and is freely accepted by all. The legitimate use of authority and
acceptance of it is designated as ‘psychological contract’.
 With legitimate authority, individuals attain legitimate power. As long as the
commands issued falls under the boundaries of psychological contract, the
person will comply.
 Impression management refers to the process used by individuals to control
the impression others form of them. The impression that prospective
employers form may be based on subtle behaviours, such as how we dress
and speak, or more elaborate acts, such as announcing our accomplishments.
 However, it is to be noted that one should not overestimate the power of
impression management as the person lacking credibility may not be able to
present the correct image all the time and will be exposed eventually.

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Power, Politics and  A person in an organizational setting can have power from two sources.
Impression Management
These are interpersonal sources and organizationally based structural sources.
 Interpersonal Sources of Power focus on the interpersonal relationships
between manager and the subordinates. John R.P. French and Bertram
NOTES
Raven have identified five general types of power which are legitimate power,
reward power, coercive power, expert power and referent power.
 In addition, there is another dimension of power which involves structural
and situational sources within the organization and includes knowledge as
power, resources as power, decision making as power and link with others
as power.
 Politics has been defined by J. Pffeffer as ‘those activities taken within
organizations to acquire, develop and use power and other resources to
obtain ones preferred outcomes in a situation in which there is uncertainty
or dissensus about choices’.
 R.H. Miles has identified five major reasons that have strong influence on
political orientation of organizations. These are scarcity of resources, Non-
programmed decisions, ambiguous goals, technology and environment, and
organizational change.
 There are other devious tactics that are used to acquire political strength
which may be difficult to defend on moral grounds. Nevertheless, they are
used extensively.
 Political career is considered to be the most unstable and volatile career
and some political mistakes can be very costly. Sticking to the losing side,
violating chain of command, being temperamental, and creating conflict with
top management are some of them.
 It is impossible to totally eliminate political behaviour in organizations.
However, one can limit its dysfunctional consequences. Politics when carried
to the extreme can damage morale, create enemies, destroy loyalty, damper
cooperative spirit and much time and energy is spent planning attacks and
counter-attacks which are detrimental to organizational health.
 Niccolo Machiavelli’s writings inspired the concept of ‘Machiavellianism’
which refers to the set of beliefs about human nature, and a person’s ability
to use various tactics, irrespective of their moral value, in order to achieve
his ambitions.
 Machiavellian individuals are believed to partake in political behaviour more
frequently.

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  Loyalty to moral principles is more important than loyalty to boss or the Power, Politics and
Impression Management
organizations. Accordingly, it must be clearly understood that while some
political manoeuvrability is avoidable in any organizational climate, ethical
considerations become very helpful to all individuals in the long run.
NOTES
14.9 KEY WORDS

 Psychological Contract: Psychological contract is a mutual set of

expectations which exist between an organization and an individual.
 Legitimate Power: Legitimate power is the power vested in the leadership
to take certain actions.
 Impression Management: Impression management refers to the process
used by individuals to control the impression others form of them. The
impression that prospective employers form may be based on subtle
behaviours, such as how we dress and speak, or more elaborate acts, such
as announcing our accomplishments.

14.10 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS AND

EXERCISES

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the structural and situational sources of power?
2. What is referent power?
3. What do you mean by impression management?
4. What are some of the political blunders that one needs to avoid?
Long Answer Questions
1. Discuss the sources of power.
2. Examine the tactics to generate a favourable opinion.
3. Explain how one can overcome the negative impact of organizational
conflicts.
4. Discuss in detail the ethics of power and politics.

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Material 197
Power, Politics and
Impression Management 14.11 FURTHER READINGS

Johns, Gary. Organizational Behaviour: Understanding Life at Work. New

NOTES York:
Scott Foresman and Company.
Mintzberg, Henry. The Nature of Managerial Work. New York: Harper & Row.
Wren, W.A. The Evolution of Management Thought. New York: John Wiley
& Sons.
Chandan, J.S. ‘Organizational Behaviour’, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.

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